,,essays ,,of ,,michel ,,de ,,montaigne ,translated by ,charles ,cotton ,edited by ,william ,carew ,hazilitt #ahgg ,,contents ,,of ,,volume #g4 ,,xxxix4 ,a consideration upon ,cicero4 ,,xl4 ,that the relish of good and evil depends in a great measure upon opinion4 ,,xli4 ,not to communicate a man's honour4 ,,xlii4 ,of the inequality amongst us4 ,,xliii4 ,of sumptuary laws4 ,,xliv4 ,of sleep4 ,,xlv4 ,of the battle of ,dreux4 ,,xlvi4 ,of names4 ,,xlvii4 ,of the uncertainty of our judgment4 ,,chapter ,,xxxix ,a ,,consideration ,,upon ,,cicero ,one word more by way of comparison betwixt these two4 ,there are to be gathered out of the writings of ,cicero and the younger ,pliny 7but little1 in my opinion1 resembling his uncle in his humours7 infinite testimonies of a beyond measure ambitious nature2 and amongst others1 this for one1 that they both1 in the sight of all the world1 solicit the historians of their time not to forget them in their memoirs2 and fortune1 as if in spite1 has made the vanity of those requests live upon record down to this age of ours1 while she has long since consigned the histories themselves to oblivion4 ,but this exceeds all meanness of spirit in persons of such a quality as they were1 to think to derive any great renown from babbling and prating2 even to the publishing of their private letters to their friends1 and so withal1 that though some of them were never sent1 the opportunity being lost1 they nevertheless presented them to the light1 with this worthy excuse that they were unwilling to lose their labours and lucubrations4 ,was it not very well becoming two consuls of ,rome1 sovereign magistrates of the republic that commanded the world1 to spend their leisure in contriving quaint and elegant missives1 thence to gain the reputation of being versed in their own mother-tongues8 ,what could a pitiful schoolmaster have done worse1 whose trade it was thereby to get his living8 ,if the acts of ,xenophon and ,caesar had not far transcended their eloquence1 ,i scarce believe they would ever have taken the pains to have written them2 they made it their business to recommend not their speaking1 but their doing4 ,and could the perfection of eloquence have added a lustre suitable to a great personage1 certainly ,scipio and ,laelius had never resigned the honour of their comedies1 with all the luxuriances and elegances of the ,latin tongue1 to an ,african slave2 for that the work was theirs1 its beauty and excellence sufficiently declare2 ,terence himself confesses as much1 and ,i should take it ill from any one that would dispossess me of that belief4 ',tis a kind of mockery and offence to extol a man for qualities misbecoming his condition1 though otherwise commendable in themselves1 but such as ought not1 however1 to be his chief talent2 as if a man should commend a king for being a good painter1 a good architect1 a good marksman1 or a good runner at the ring3 commendations that add no honour1 unless mentioned altogether and in the train of those that are properly applicable to him1 namely1 justice and the science of governing and conducting his people both in peace and war4 ,at this rate1 agriculture was an honour to ,cyrus1 and eloquence and the knowledge of letters to ,charlemagne4 ,i have in my time known some1 who by writing acquired both their titles and fortune1 disown their apprenticeship1 corrupt their style1 and affect ignorance in so vulgar a quality 7which also our nation holds to be rarely seen in very learned hands71 and to seek a reputation by better qualities4 ,demosthenes' companions in the embassy to ,philip1 extolling that prince as handsome1 eloquent1 and a stout drinker1 ,demosthenes said that those were commendations more proper for a woman1 an advocate1 or a sponge1 than for a king'3 ,imperet bellante prior1 jacentem ,lenis in hostem4 ,in the fight1 overthrow your enemy1 but be merciful to him when fallen4--,horace1 ,carm4 ,saec41 v4 #ea4 ',tis not his profession to know either how to hunt or to dance well2 ,orabunt causas alii1 coelique meatus ,describent radio1 et fulgentia sidera dicent2 ,hic regere imperio populos sciat4 ,let others plead at the bar1 or describe the spheres1 and point out the glittering stars2 let this man learn to rule the nations4 --,a,eneid1 vi4 #hdi4 ,plutarch says1 moreover1 that to appear so excellent in these less necessary qualities is to produce witness against a man's self1 that he has spent his time and applied his study ill1 which ought to have been employed in the acquisition of more necessary and more useful things4 ,so that ,philip1 king of ,macedon1 having heard that great ,alexander his son sing once at a feast to the wonder of the best musicians there3 ,art thou not ashamed1 said he to him1 to sing so well8 ,and to the same ,philip a musician1 with whom he was disputing about some things concerning his art3 ,heaven forbid1 sir1 said he1 that so great a misfortune should ever befall you as to understand these things better than ,i4 ,a king should be able to answer as ,iphicrates did the orator1 who pressed upon him in his invective after this manner3 ,and what art thou that thou bravest it at this rate8 art thou a man at arms1 art thou an archer1 art thou a pikeman8--,i am none of all this2 but ,i know how to command all these4 ,and ,antisthenes took it for an argument of little value in ,ismenias that he was commended for playing excellently well upon a flute4 ,i know very well1 that when ,i hear any one dwell upon the language of my essays1 ,i had rather a great deal he would say nothing3 'tis not so much to elevate the style as to depress the sense1 and so much the more offensively as they do it obliquely2 and yet ,i am much deceived if many other writers deliver more worth noting as to the matter1 and1 how well or ill soever1 if any other writer has sown things much more materials or at all events more downright1 upon his paper than myself4 ,to bring the more in1 ,i only muster up the heads2 should ,i annex the sequel1 ,i should trebly multiply the volume4 ,and how many stories have ,i scattered up and down in this book that ,i only touch upon1 which1 should any one more curiously search into1 they would find matter enough to produce infinite essays4 ,neither those stories nor my quotations always serve simply for example1 authority1 or ornament2 ,i do not only regard them for the use ,i make of them3 they carry sometimes besides what ,i apply them to1 the seed of a more rich and a bolder matter1 and sometimes1 collaterally1 a more delicate sound both to myself who will say no more about it in this place1 and to others who shall be of my humour4 ,but returning to the speaking virtue3 ,i find no great choice betwixt not knowing to speak anything but ill1 and not knowing to speak anything but well4 ,non est ornamentum virile concimitas4 ,a carefully arranged dress is no manly ornament4 --,seneca1 ,ep41 #aae4 ,the sages tell us that1 as to what concerns knowledge1 'tis nothing but philosophy2 and as to what concerns effects1 nothing but virtue1 which is generally proper to all degrees and to all orders4 ,there is something like this in these two other philosophers1 for they also promise eternity to the letters they write to their friends2 but 'tis after another manner1 and by accommodating themselves1 for a good end1 to the vanity of another2 for they write to them that if the concern of making themselves known to future ages1 and the thirst of glory1 do yet detain them in the management of public affairs1 and make them fear the solitude and retirement to which they would persuade them1 let them never trouble themselves more about it1 forasmuch as they shall have credit enough with posterity to ensure them that were there nothing else but the letters thus written to them1 those letters will render their names as known and famous as their own public actions could do4 ,and besides this difference1 these are not idle and empty letters1 that contain nothing but a fine jingle of well-chosen words and delicate couched phrases1 but rather replete and abounding with grand discourses of reason1 by which a man may render himself not more eloquent1 but more wise1 and that instruct us not to speak1 but to do well4 ,away with that eloquence that enchants us with itself1 and not with actual things6 unless you will allow that of ,cicero to be of so supreme a perfection as to form a complete body of itself4 ,i shall farther add one story we read of him to this purpose1 wherein his nature will much more manifestly be laid open to us4 ,he was to make an oration in public1 and found himself a little straitened for time to make himself ready at his ease2 when ,eros1 one of his slaves1 brought him word that the audience was deferred till the next day1 at which he was so ravished with joy that he enfranchised him for the good news4 ,upon this subject of letters1 ,i will add this more to what has been already said1 that it is a kind of writing wherein my friends think ,i can do something2 and ,i am willing to confess ,i should rather have chosen to publish my whimsies that way than any other1 had ,i had to whom to write2 but ,i wanted such a settled intercourse1 as ,i once had1 to attract me to it1 to raise my fancy1 and to support me4 ,for to traffic with the wind1 as some others have done1 and to forge vain names to direct my letters to1 in a serious subject1 ,i could never do it but in a dream1 being a sworn enemy to all manner of falsification4 ,i should have been more diligent and more confident had ,i had a judicious and indulgent friend whom to address1 than thus to expose myself to the various judgments of a whole people1 and ,i am deceived if ,i had not succeeded better4 ,i have naturally a humorous and familiar style2 but it is a style of my own1 not proper for public business1 but1 like the language ,i speak1 too compact1 irregular1 abrupt1 and singular2 and as to letters of ceremony that have no other substance than a fine contexture of courteous words1 ,i am wholly to seek4 ,i have neither faculty nor relish for those tedious tenders of service and affection2 ,i believe little in them from others1 and ,i should not forgive myself should ,i say to others more than ,i myself believe4 ',tis1 doubtless1 very remote from the present practice2 for there never was so abject and servile prostitution of offers3 life1 soul1 devotion1 adoration1 vassal1 slave1 and ,i cannot tell what1 as now2 all which expressions are so commonly and so indifferently posted to and fro by every one and to every one1 that when they would profess a greater and more respectful inclination upon more just occasions1 they have not wherewithal to express it4 ,i mortally hate all air of flattery1 which is the cause that ,i naturally fall into a shy1 rough1 and crude way of speaking1 that1 to such as do not know me1 may seem a little to relish of disdain4 ,i honour those most to whom ,i show the least honour1 and where my soul moves with the greatest cheerfulness1 ,i easily forget the ceremonies of look and gesture1 and offer myself faintly and bluntly to them to whom ,i am the most devoted3 methinks they should read it in my heart1 and that the expression of my words does but injure the love ,i have conceived within4 ,to welcome1 take leave1 give thanks1 accost1 offer my service1 and such verbal formalities as the ceremonious laws of our modern civility enjoin1 ,i know no man so stupidly unprovided of language as myself2 and ,i have never been employed in writing letters of favour and recommendation1 that he1 in whose behalf it was written1 did not think my mediation cold and imperfect4 ,the ,italians are great printers of letters2 ,i do believe ,i have at least an hundred several volumes of them2 of all which those of ,annibale ,caro seem to me to be the best4 ,if all the paper ,i have scribbled to the ladies at the time when my hand was really prompted by my passion1 were now in being1 there might1 peradventure1 be found a page worthy to be communicated to our young inamoratos1 that are besotted with that fury4 ,i always write my letters post-haste--so precipitately1 that though ,i write intolerably ill1 ,i rather choose to do it myself1 than to employ another2 for ,i can find none able to follow me3 and ,i never transcribe any4 ,i have accustomed the great ones who know me to endure my blots and dashes1 and upon paper without fold or margin4 ,those that cost me the most pains1 are the worst2 when ,i once begin to draw it in by head and shoulders1 'tis a sign that ,i am not there4 ,i fall too without premeditation or design2 the first word begets the second1 and so to the end of the chapter4 ,the letters of this age consist more in fine edges and prefaces than in matter4 ,just as ,i had rather write two letters than close and fold up one1 and always assign that employment to some other1 so1 when the real business of my letter is dispatched1 ,i would with all my heart transfer it to another hand to add those long harangues1 offers1 and prayers1 that we place at the bottom1 and should be glad that some new custom would discharge us of that trouble2 as also of superscribing them with a long legend of qualities and titles1 which for fear of mistakes1 ,i have often not written at all1 and especially to men of the long robe and finance2 there are so many new offices1 such a dispensation and ordering of titles of honour1 that 'tis hard to set them forth aright yet1 being so dearly bought1 they are neither to be altered nor forgotten without offence4 ,i find it equally in bad taste to encumber the fronts and inscriptions of the books we commit to the press with such4 ,,chapter ,,xl ,,that ,,the ,,relish ,,for ,,good ,,and ,,evil ,,depends ,,in ,,great ,,measure ,,upon ,,the ,,opinion ,,we ,,have ,,of ,,them ,men 7says an ancient ,greek sentence7--,manual of ,epictetus1 c4 #aj4-- are tormented with the opinions they have of things and not by the things themselves4 ,it were a great victory obtained for the relief of our miserable human condition1 could this proposition be established for certain and true throughout4 ,for if evils have no admission into us but by the judgment we ourselves make of them1 it should seem that it is1 then1 in our own power to despise them or to turn them to good4 ,if things surrender themselves to our mercy1 why do we not convert and accommodate them to our advantage8 ,if what we call evil and torment is neither evil nor torment of itself1 but only that our fancy gives it that quality1 it is in us to change it1 and it being in our own choice1 if there be no constraint upon us1 we must certainly be very strange fools to take arms for that side which is most offensive to us1 and to give sickness1 want1 and contempt a bitter and nauseous taste1 if it be in our power to give them a pleasant relish1 and if1 fortune simply providing the matter1 'tis for us to give it the form4 ,now1 that what we call evil is not so of itself1 or at least to that degree that we make it1 and that it depends upon us to give it another taste and complexion 7for all comes to one71 let us examine how that can be maintained4 ,if the original being of those things we fear had power to lodge itself in us by its own authority1 it would then lodge itself alike1 and in like manner1 in all2 for men are all of the same kind1 and saving in greater and less proportions1 are all provided with the same utensils and instruments to conceive and to judge2 but the diversity of opinions we have of those things clearly evidences that they only enter us by composition2 one person1 peradventure1 admits them in their true being1 but a thousand others give them a new and contrary being in them4 ,we hold death1 poverty1 and pain for our principal enemies2 now1 this death1 which some repute the most dreadful of all dreadful things1 who does not know that others call it the only secure harbour from the storms and tempests of life1 the sovereign good of nature1 the sole support of liberty1 and the common and prompt remedy of all evils8 ,and as the one expect it with fear and trembling1 the others support it with greater ease than life4 ,that one complains of its facility3 ,mors6 utinam pavidos vitae subducere nolles4 ,sed virtus to sola daret6 ,o death6 wouldst that thou might spare the coward1 but that valour alone should pay thee tribute4--,lucan1 iv4 #ehj4 ,now1 let us leave these boastful courages4 ,theodorus answered ,lysimachus1 who threatened to kill him1 ,thou wilt do a brave feat1 said he1 to attain the force of a cantharides4 ,the majority of philosophers are observed to have either purposely anticipated1 or hastened and assisted their own death4 ,how many ordinary people do we see led to execution1 and that not to a simple death1 but mixed with shame and sometimes with grievous torments1 appear with such assurance1 whether through firm courage or natural simplicity1 that a man can discover no change from their ordinary condition2 settling their domestic affairs1 commending themselves to their friends1 singing1 preaching1 and addressing the people1 nay1 sometimes sallying into jests1 and drinking to their companions1 quite as well as ,socrates8 ,one that they were leading to the gallows told them they must not take him through such a street1 lest a merchant who lived there should arrest him by the way for an old debt4 ,another told the hangman he must not touch his neck for fear of making him laugh1 he was so ticklish4 ,another answered his confessor1 who promised him he should that day sup with our ,lord1 ,do you go then1 said he1 in my room place2 for ,i for my part keep fast to-day4 ,another having called for drink1 and the hangman having drunk first1 said he would not drink after him1 for fear of catching some evil disease4 ,everybody has heard the tale of the ,picard1 to whom1 being upon the ladder1 they presented a common wench1 telling him 7as our law does some times permit7 that if he would marry her they would save his life2 he1 having a while considered her and perceiving that she halted3 ,come1 tie up1 tie up1 said he1 she limps4 ,and they tell another story of the same kind of a fellow in ,denmark1 who being condemned to lose his head1 and the like condition being proposed to him upon the scaffold1 refused it1 by reason the girl they offered him had hollow cheeks and too sharp a nose4 ,a servant at ,toulouse being accused of heresy1 for the sum of his belief referred himself to that of his master1 a young student1 prisoner with him1 choosing rather to die than suffer himself to be persuaded that his master could err4 ,we read that of the inhabitants of ,arras1 when ,louis ,,xi4 took that city1 a great many let themselves be hanged rather than they would say1 ,god save the ,king4 ,and amongst that mean-souled race of men1 the buffoons1 there have been some who would not leave their fooling at the very moment of death4 ,one that the hang man was turning off the ladder cried3 ,launch the galley1 an ordinary saying of his4 ,another1 whom at the point of death his friends had laid upon a bed of straw before the fire1 the physician asking him where his pain lay3 ,betwixt the bench and the fire1 said he1 and the priest1 to give him extreme unction1 groping for his feet which his pain had made him pull up to him3 ,you will find them1 said he1 at the end of my legs4 ,to one who being present exhorted him to recommend himself to ,god3 ,why1 who goes thither8 said he2 and the other replying3 ,it will presently be yourself1 if it be ,his good pleasure4 ,shall ,i be sure to be there by to-morrow night8 said he4 ,do1 but recommend yourself to ,him1 said the other1 and you will soon be there4 ,i were best then1 said he1 to carry my recommendations myself4 ,in the kingdom of ,narsingah to this day the wives of their priests are buried alive with the bodies of their husbands2 all other wives are burnt at their husbands' funerals1 which they not only firmly but cheerfully undergo4 ,at the death of their king1 his wives and concubines1 his favourites1 all his officers1 and domestic servants1 who make up a whole people1 present themselves so gaily to the fire where his body is burnt1 that they seem to take it for a singular honour to accompany their master in death4 ,during our late wars of ,milan1 where there happened so many takings and retakings of towns1 the people1 impatient of so many changes of fortune1 took such a resolution to die1 that ,i have heard my father say he there saw a list taken of five-and-twenty masters of families who made themselves away in one week's time3 an incident somewhat resembling that of the ,xanthians1 who being besieged by ,brutus1 fell--men1 women1 and children--into such a furious appetite of dying1 that nothing can be done to evade death which they did not to avoid life2 insomuch that ,brutus had much difficulty in saving a very small number4--,only fifty were saved4--,plutarch1 ,life of ,brutus1 c4 #h4 ,every opinion is of force enough to cause itself to be espoused at the expense of life4 ,the first article of that valiant oath that ,greece took and observed in the ,median war1 was that every one should sooner exchange life for death1 than their own laws for those of ,persia4 ,what a world of people do we see in the wars betwixt the ,turks and the ,greeks1 rather embrace a cruel death than uncircumcise themselves to admit of baptism8 ,an example of which no sort of religion is incapable4 ,the kings of ,castile having banished the ,jews out of their dominions1 ,john1 ,king of ,portugal1 in consideration of eight crowns a head1 sold them a retreat into his for a certain limited time1 upon condition that the time fixed coming to expire they should begone1 and he to furnish them with shipping to transport them into ,africa4 ,the day comes1 which once lapsed they were given to understand that such as were afterward found in the kingdom should remain slaves2 vessels were very slenderly provided2 and those who embarked in them were rudely and villainously used by the passengers1 who1 besides other indignities1 kept them cruising upon the sea1 one while forwards and another backwards1 till they had spent all their provisions1 and were constrained to buy of them at so dear a rate and so long withal1 that they set them not on shore till they were all stripped to the very shirts4 ,the news of this inhuman usage being brought to those who remained behind1 the greater part of them resolved upon slavery and some made a show of changing religion4 ,emmanuel1 the successor of ,john1 being come to the crown1 first set them at liberty1 and afterwards altering his mind1 ordered them to depart his country1 assigning three ports for their passage4 ,he hoped1 says ,bishop ,osorius1 no contemptible ,latin historian of these later times1 that the favour of the liberty he had given them having failed of converting them to ,christianity1 yet the difficulty of committing themselves to the mercy of the mariners and of abandoning a country they were now habituated to and were grown very rich in1 to go and expose themselves in strange and unknown regions1 would certainly do it4 ,but finding himself deceived in his expectation1 and that they were all resolved upon the voyage1 he cut off two of the three ports he had promised them1 to the end that the length and incommodity of the passage might reduce some1 or that he might have opportunity1 by crowding them all into one place1 the more conveniently to execute what he had designed1 which was to force all the children under fourteen years of age from the arms of their fathers and mothers1 to transport them from their sight and conversation1 into a place where they might be instructed and brought up in our religion4 ,he says that this produced a most horrid spectacle the natural affection betwixt the parents and their children1 and moreover their zeal to their ancient belief1 contending against this violent decree1 fathers and mothers were commonly seen making themselves away1 and by a yet much more rigorous example1 precipitating out of love and compassion their young children into wells and pits1 to avoid the severity of this law4 ,as to the remainder of them1 the time that had been prefixed being expired1 for want of means to transport them they again returned into slavery4 ,some also turned ,christians1 upon whose faith1 as also that of their posterity1 even to this day1 which is a hundred years since1 few ,portuguese can yet rely2 though custom and length of time are much more powerful counsellors in such changes than all other constraints whatever4 ,in the town of ,castelnaudari1 fifty heretic ,albigeois at one time suffered themselves to be burned alive in one fire rather than they would renounce their opinions4 ,quoties non modo ductores nostri1 sed universi etiam exercitus1 ad non dubiam mortem concurrerunt8 ,how often have not only our leaders1 but whole armies1 run to a certain and manifest death4--,cicero1 ,tusc4 ,quaes41 i4 #cg4 ,i have seen an intimate friend of mine run headlong upon death with a real affection1 and that was rooted in his heart by divers plausible arguments which he would never permit me to dispossess him of1 and upon the first honourable occasion that offered itself to him1 precipitate himself into it1 without any manner of visible reason1 with an obstinate and ardent desire of dying4 ,we have several examples in our own times of persons1 even young children1 who for fear of some little inconvenience have despatched themselves4 ,and what shall we not fear1 says one of the ancients--,seneca1 ,ep41 #gj4--to this purpose1 if we dread that which cowardice itself has chosen for its refuge8 ,should ,i here produce a long catalogue of those1 of all sexes and conditions and sects1 even in the most happy ages1 who have either with great constancy looked death in the face1 or voluntarily sought it1 and sought it not only to avoid the evils of this life1 but some purely to avoid the satiety of living1 and others for the hope of a better condition elsewhere1 ,i should never have done4 ,nay1 the number is so infinite that in truth ,i should have a better bargain on't to reckon up those who have feared it4 ,this one therefore shall serve for all3 ,pyrrho the philosopher being one day in a boat in a very great tempest1 shewed to those he saw the most affrighted about him1 and encouraged them1 by the example of a hog that was there1 nothing at all concerned at the storm4 ,shall we then dare to say that this advantage of reason1 of which we so much boast1 and upon the account of which we think ourselves masters and emperors over the rest of all creation1 was given us for a torment8 ,to what end serves the knowledge of things if it renders us more unmanly8 if we thereby lose the tranquillity and repose we should enjoy without it8 and if it put us into a worse condition than ,pyrrho's hog8 ,shall we employ the understanding that was conferred upon us for our greatest good to our own ruin2 setting ourselves against the design of nature and the universal order of things1 which intend that every one should make use of the faculties1 members1 and means he has to his own best advantage8 ,but it may1 peradventure1 be objected against me3 ,your rule is true enough as to what concerns death2 but what will you say of indigence8 ,what will you1 moreover1 say of pain1 which ,aristippus1 ,hieronimus1 and most of the sages have reputed the worst of evils2 and those who have denied it by word of mouth have1 however1 confessed it in effect8 ,posidonius being extremely tormented with a sharp and painful disease1 ,pompeius came to visit him1 excusing himself that he had taken so unseasonable a time to come to hear him discourse of philosophy4 ,the gods forbid1 said ,posidonius to him1 that pain should ever have the power to hinder me from talking1 and thereupon fell immediately upon a discourse of the contempt of pain3 but1 in the meantime1 his own infirmity was playing his part1 and plagued him to purpose2 to which he cried out1 ,thou mayest work thy will1 pain1 and torment me with all the power thou hast1 but thou shalt never make me say that thou art an evil4 ,this story that they make such a clutter withal1 what has it to do1 ,i fain would know1 with the contempt of pain8 ,he only fights it with words1 and in the meantime1 if the shootings and dolours he felt did not move him1 why did he interrupt his discourse8 ,why did he fancy he did so great a thing in forbearing to confess it an evil8 ,all does not here consist in the imagination2 our fancies may work upon other things3 but here is the certain science that is playing its part1 of which our senses themselves are judges3 ,qui nisi sunt veri1 ratio quoque falsa sit omnis4 ,which1 if they be not true1 all reasoning may also be false4 --,lucretius1 iv4 #dhf4 ,shall we persuade our skins that the jerks of a whip agreeably tickle us1 or our taste that a potion of aloes is vin de ,graves8 ,pyrrho's hog is here in the same predicament with us2 he is not afraid of death1 'tis true1 but if you beat him he will cry out to some purpose4 ,shall we force the general law of nature1 which in every living creature under heaven is seen to tremble under pain8 ,the very trees seem to groan under the blows they receive4 ,death is only felt by reason1 forasmuch as it is the motion of an instant2 ,aut fuit1 aut veniet2 nihil est praesentis in illa4 ,death has been1 or will come3 there is nothing of the present in it4--,estienne de la ,boetie1 ,satires4 ,morsque minus poenae1 quam mora mortis1 habet2 ,the delay of death is more painful than death itself4 --,ovid1 ,ep4 ,ariadne to ,theseus1 v4 #db4 a thousand beasts1 a thousand men1 are sooner dead than threatened4 ,that also which we principally pretend to fear in death is pain1 its ordinary forerunner3 yet1 if we may believe a holy father3 ,malam mortem non facit1 nisi quod sequitur mortem4 ,that which follows death makes death bad4 --,st4 ,augustin1 ,de ,civit4 ,dei1 i4 ii4 ,and ,i should yet say1 more probably1 that neither that which goes before nor that which follows after is at all of the appurtenances of death4 ,we excuse ourselves falsely3 and ,i find by experience that it is rather the impatience of the imagination of death that makes us impatient of pain1 and that we find it doubly grievous as it threatens us with death4 ,but reason accusing our cowardice for fearing a thing so sudden1 so inevitable1 and so insensible1 we take the other as the more excusable pretence4 ,all ills that carry no other danger along with them but simply the evils themselves1 we treat as things of no danger3 the toothache or the gout1 painful as they are1 yet being not reputed mortal1 who reckons them in the catalogue of diseases8 ,but let us presuppose that in death we principally regard the pain2 as also there is nothing to be feared in poverty but the miseries it brings along with it of thirst1 hunger1 cold1 heat1 watching1 and the other inconveniences it makes us suffer1 still we have nothing to do with anything but pain4 ,i will grant1 and very willingly1 that it is the worst incident of our being 7for ,i am the man upon earth who the most hates and avoids it1 considering that hitherto1 ,i thank ,god1 ,i have had so little traffic with it71 but still it is in us1 if not to annihilate1 at least to lessen it by patience2 and though the body and the reason should mutiny1 to maintain the soul1 nevertheless1 in good condition4 ,were it not so1 who had ever given reputation to virtue2 valour1 force1 magnanimity1 and resolution8 where were their parts to be played if there were no pain to be defied8 ,avida est periculi virtus4 ,courage is greedy of danger4--,seneca1 ,de ,providentia1 c4 #d ,were there no lying upon the hard ground1 no enduring1 armed at all points1 the meridional heats1 no feeding upon the flesh of horses and asses1 no seeing a man's self hacked and hewed to pieces1 no suffering a bullet to be pulled out from amongst the shattered bones1 no sewing up1 cauterising and searching of wounds1 by what means were the advantage we covet to have over the vulgar to be acquired8 ',tis far from flying evil and pain1 what the sages say1 that of actions equally good1 a man should most covet to perform that wherein there is greater labour and pain4 ,non est enim hilaritate1 nec lascivia1 nec risu1 aut joco comite levitatis1 sed saepe etiam tristes firmitate et constantia sunt beati4 ,for men are not only happy by mirth and wantonness1 by laughter and jesting1 the companion of levity1 but ofttimes the serious sort reap felicity from their firmness and constancy4 --,cicero1 ,de ,finib4 ii4 #aj4 ,and for this reason it has ever been impossible to persuade our forefathers but that the victories obtained by dint of force and the hazard of war were not more honourable than those performed in great security by stratagem or practice3 ,laetius est1 quoties magno sibi constat honestum4 ,a good deed is all the more a satisfaction by how much the more it has cost us--,lucan1 ix4 #djd4 ,besides1 this ought to be our comfort1 that naturally1 if the pain be violent1 'tis but short2 and if long1 nothing violent3 ,si gravis1 brevis2 ,si longus1 levis4 ,thou wilt not feel it long if thou feelest it too much2 it will either put an end to itself or to thee2 it comes to the same thing2 if thou canst not support it1 it will export thee3 ,remember that the greatest pains are terminated by death2 that slighter pains have long intermissions of repose1 and that we are masters of the more moderate sort3 so that1 if they be tolerable1 we bear them2 if not1 we can go out of life1 as from a theatre1 when it does not please us--,cicero1 ,de ,finib4 i4 #ae4 ,that which makes us suffer pain with so much impatience is the not being accustomed to repose our chiefest contentment in the soul2 that we do not enough rely upon her who is the sole and sovereign mistress of our condition4 ,the body1 saving in the greater or less proportion1 has but one and the same bent and bias2 whereas the soul is variable into all sorts of forms2 and subject to herself and to her own empire1 all things whatsoever1 both the senses of the body and all other accidents3 and therefore it is that we ought to study her1 to inquire into her1 and to rouse up all her powerful faculties4 ,there is neither reason1 force1 nor prescription that can anything prevail against her inclination and choice4 ,of so many thousands of biases that she has at her disposal1 let us give her one proper to our repose and conversation1 and then we shall not only be sheltered and secured from all manner of injury and offence1 but moreover gratified and obliged1 if she will1 with evils and offences4 ,she makes her profit indifferently of all things2 error1 dreams1 serve her to good use1 as loyal matter to lodge us in safety and contentment4 ',tis plain enough to be seen that 'tis the sharpness of our mind that gives the edge to our pains and pleasures3 beasts that have no such thing1 leave to their bodies their own free and natural sentiments1 and consequently in every kind very near the same1 as appears by the resembling application of their motions4 ,if we would not disturb in our members the jurisdiction that appertains to them in this1 'tis to be believed it would be the better for us1 and that nature has given them a just and moderate temper both to pleasure and pain2 neither can it fail of being just1 being equal and common4 ,but seeing we have enfranchised ourselves from her rules to give ourselves up to the rambling liberty of our own fancies1 let us at least help to incline them to the most agreeable side4 ,plato fears our too vehemently engaging ourselves with pain and pleasure1 forasmuch as these too much knit and ally the soul to the body2 whereas ,i rather1 quite contrary1 by reason it too much separates and disunites them4 ,as an enemy is made more fierce by our flight1 so pain grows proud to see us truckle under her4 ,she will surrender upon much better terms to them who make head against her3 a man must oppose and stoutly set himself against her4 ,in retiring and giving ground1 we invite and pull upon ourselves the ruin that threatens us4 ,as the body is more firm in an encounter1 the more stiffly and obstinately it applies itself to it1 so is it with the soul4 ,but let us come to examples1 which are the proper game of folks of such feeble force as myself2 where we shall find that it is with pain as with stones1 that receive a brighter or a duller lustre according to the foil they are set in1 and that it has no more room in us than we are pleased to allow it3 ,tantum doluerunt1 quantum doloribus se inseruerunt4 ,they suffered so much the more1 by how much more they gave way to suffering4--,st4 ,augustin1 ,de ,civit4 ,dei1 i4 #aj4 ,we are more sensible of one little touch of a surgeon's lancet than of twenty wounds with a sword in the heat of fight4 ,the pains of childbearing1 said by the physicians and by ,god himself to be great1 and which we pass through with so many ceremonies--there are whole nations that make nothing of them4 ,i set aside the ,lacedaemonian women1 but what else do you find in the ,swiss among our foot-soldiers1 if not that1 as they trot after their husbands1 you see them to-day carry the child at their necks that they carried yesterday in their bellies8 ,the counterfeit ,egyptians we have amongst us go themselves to wash theirs1 so soon as they come into the world1 and bathe in the first river they meet4 ,besides so many wenches as daily drop their children by stealth1 as they conceived them1 that fair and noble wife of ,sabinus1 a patrician of ,rome1 for another's interest1 endured alone1 without help1 without crying out1 or so much as a groan1 the bearing of twins4--,plutarch1 ,on ,love1 c4 #cd4--;,a poor simple boy of ,lacedaemon having stolen a fox 7for they more fear the shame of stupidity in stealing than we do the punishment of the knavery71 and having got it under his coat1 rather endured the tearing out of his bowels than he would discover his theft4 ,and another offering incense at a sacrifice1 suffered himself to be burned to the bone by a coal that fell into his sleeve1 rather than disturb the ceremony4 ,and there have been a great number1 for a sole trial of virtue1 following their institutions1 who have at seven years old endured to be whipped to death without changing their countenance4 ,and ,cicero has seen them fight in parties1 with fists1 feet1 and teeth1 till they have fainted and sunk down1 rather than confess themselves overcome3 ,custom could never conquer nature2 she is ever invincible2 but we have infected the mind with shadows1 delights1 negligence1 sloth2 we have grown effeminate through opinions and corrupt morality4 --,cicero1 ,tusc4 ,quaes41 v4 #bg4 ,every one knows the story of ,scaevola1 that having slipped into the enemy's camp to kill their general1 and having missed his blow1 to repair his fault1 by a more strange invention and to deliver his country1 he boldly confessed to ,porsenna1 who was the king he had a purpose to kill1 not only his design1 but moreover added that there were then in the camp a great number of ,romans1 his accomplices in the enterprise1 as good men as he2 and to show what a one he himself was1 having caused a pan of burning coals to be brought1 he saw and endured his arm to broil and roast1 till the king himself1 conceiving horror at the sight1 commanded the pan to be taken away4 ,what would you say of him that would not vouchsafe to respite his reading in a book whilst he was under incision8 ,and of the other that persisted to mock and laugh in contempt of the pains inflicted upon him2 so that the provoked cruelty of the executioners that had him in handling1 and all the inventions of tortures redoubled upon him1 one after another1 spent in vain1 gave him the bucklers8 ,but he was a philosopher4 ,but what6 a gladiator of ,caesar's endured1 laughing all the while1 his wounds to be searched1 lanced1 and laid open3 ,what ordinary gladiator ever groaned8 ,which of them ever changed countenance8 ,which of them not only stood or fell indecorously8 ,which1 when he had fallen and was commanded to receive the stroke of the sword1 contracted his neck4--,cicero1 ,tusc4 ,quaes41 ii4 #ag4 ,let us bring in the women too4 ,who has not heard at ,paris of her that caused her face to be flayed only for the fresher complexion of a new skin8 ,there are who have drawn good and sound teeth to make their voices more soft and sweet1 or to place the other teeth in better order4 ,how many examples of the contempt of pain have we in that sex8 ,what can they not do1 what do they fear to do1 for never so little hope of an addition to their beauty8 ,vallere queis cura est albos a stirpe capillos1 ,et faciem1 dempta pelle1 referre novam4 ,who carefully pluck out their grey hairs by the roots1 and renew their faces by peeling off the old skin4--,tibullus1 i4 #h1 #de4 ,i have seen some of them swallow sand1 ashes1 and do their utmost to destroy their stomachs to get pale complexions4 ,to make a fine ,spanish body1 what racks will they not endure of girding and bracing1 till they have notches in their sides cut into the very quick1 and sometimes to death8 ,it is an ordinary thing with several nations at this day to wound themselves in good earnest to gain credit to what they profess2 of which our king1 relates notable examples of what he has seen in ,poland and done towards himself4--,henry ,,iii4--,but besides this1 which ,i know to have been imitated by some in ,france1 when ,i came from that famous assembly of the ,estates at ,blois1 ,i had a little before seen a maid in ,picardy1 who to manifest the ardour of her promises1 as also her constancy1 give herself1 with a bodkin she wore in her hair1 four or five good lusty stabs in the arm1 till the blood gushed out to some purpose4 ,the ,turks give themselves great scars in honour of their mistresses1 and to the end they may the longer remain1 they presently clap fire to the wound1 where they hold it an incredible time to stop the blood and form the cicatrice2 people that have been eyewitnesses of it have both written and sworn it to me4 ,but for ten aspers--,a ,turkish coin worth about a penny--there are there every day fellows to be found that will give themselves a good deep slash in the arms or thighs4 ,i am willing1 however1 to have the testimonies nearest to us when we have most need of them2 for ,christendom furnishes us with enough4 ,after the example of our blessed ,guide there have been many who have crucified themselves4 ,we learn by testimony very worthy of belief1 that ,king ,st4 ,louis wore a hair-shirt till in his old age his confessor gave him a dispensation to leave it off2 and that every ,friday he caused his shoulders to be drubbed by his priest with five small chains of iron which were always carried about amongst his night accoutrements for that purpose4 ,william1 our last ,duke of ,guienne1 the father of that ,eleanor who transmitted that duchy to the houses of ,france and ,england1 continually for the last ten or twelve years of his life wore a suit of armour under a religious habit by way of penance4 ,foulke1 ,count of ,anjou1 went as far as ,jerusalem1 there to cause himself to be whipped by two of his servants1 with a rope about his neck1 before the sepulchre of our ,lord4 ,but do we not1 moreover1 every ,good ,friday1 in various places1 see great numbers of men and women beat and whip themselves till they lacerate and cut the flesh to the very bones8 ,i have often seen it1 and 'tis without any enchantment2 and it was said there were some amongst them 7for they go disguised7 who for money undertook by this means to save harmless the religion of others1 by a contempt of pain1 so much the greater1 as the incentives of devotion are more effectual than those of avarice4 ,q4 ,maximus buried his son when he was a consul1 and ,m4 ,cato his when praetor elect1 and ,l4 ,paulus both his1 within a few days one after another1 with such a countenance as expressed no manner of grief4 ,i said once merrily of a certain person1 that he had disappointed the divine justice2 for the violent death of three grown-up children of his being one day sent him1 for a severe scourge1 as it is to be supposed1 he was so far from being afflicted at the accident1 that he rather took it for a particular grace and favour of heaven4 ,i do not follow these monstrous humours1 though ,i lost two or three at nurse1 if not without grief1 at least without repining1 and yet there is hardly any accident that pierces nearer to the quick4 ,i see a great many other occasions of sorrow1 that should they happen to me ,i should hardly feel2 and have despised some1 when they have befallen me1 to which the world has given so terrible a figure that ,i should blush to boast of my constancy3 ,ex quo intelligitur1 non in natura1 sed in opinione1 esse aegritudinem4 ,by which one may understand that grief is not in nature1 but in opinion4--,cicero1 ,tusc4 ,quaes41 iii4 #bh4 ,opinion is a powerful party1 bold1 and without measure4 ,who ever so greedily hunted after security and repose as ,alexander and ,caesar did after disturbance and difficulties8 ,teres1 the father of ,sitalces1 was wont to say that when he had no wars1 he fancied there was no difference betwixt him and his groom4 ,cato the consul1 to secure some cities of ,spain from revolt1 only interdicting the inhabitants from wearing arms1 a great many killed themselves3 ,ferox gens1 nullam vitam rati sine armis esse4 ,a fierce people1 who thought there was no life without war4 --,livy1 xxxiv4 #ag4 ,how many do we know who have forsaken the calm and sweetness of a quiet life at home amongst their acquaintance1 to seek out the horror of unhabitable deserts2 and having precipitated themselves into so abject a condition as to become the scorn and contempt of the world1 have hugged themselves with the conceit1 even to affectation4 ,cardinal ,borromeo1 who died lately at ,milan1 amidst all the jollity that the air of ,italy1 his youth1 birth1 and great riches1 invited him to1 kept himself in so austere a way of living1 that the same robe he wore in summer served him for winter too2 he had only straw for his bed1 and his hours of leisure from affairs he continually spent in study upon his knees1 having a little bread and a glass of water set by his book1 which was all the provision of his repast1 and all the time he spent in eating4 ,i know some who consentingly have acquired both profit and advancement from cuckoldom1 of which the bare name only affrights so many people4 ,if the sight be not the most necessary of all our senses1 'tis at least the most pleasant2 but the most pleasant and most useful of all our members seem to be those of generation2 and yet a great many have conceived a mortal hatred against them only for this1 that they were too pleasant1 and have deprived themselves of them only for their value3 as much thought he of his eyes that put them out4 ,the generality and more solid sort of men look upon abundance of children as a great blessing2 ,i1 and some others1 think it as great a benefit to be without them4 ,and when you ask ,thales why he does not marry1 he tells you1 because he has no mind to leave any posterity behind him4 ,that our opinion gives the value to things is very manifest in the great number of those which we do1 not so much prizing them1 as ourselves1 and never considering either their virtues or their use1 but only how dear they cost us1 as though that were a part of their substance2 and we only repute for value in them1 not what they bring to us1 but what we add to them4 ,by which ,i understand that we are great economisers of our expense3 as it weighs1 it serves for so much as it weighs4 ,our opinion will never suffer it to want of its value3 the price gives value to the diamond2 difficulty to virtue2 suffering to devotion2 and griping to physic4 ,a certain person1 to be poor1 threw his crowns into the same sea to which so many come1 in all parts of the world1 to fish for riches4 ,epicurus says that to be rich is no relief1 but only an alteration1 of affairs4 ,in truth1 it is not want1 but rather abundance1 that creates avarice4 ,i will deliver my own experience concerning this affair4 ,i have since my emergence from childhood lived in three sorts of conditions4 ,the first1 which continued for some twenty years1 ,i passed over without any other means but what were casual and depending upon the allowance and assistance of others1 without stint1 but without certain revenue4 ,i then spent my money so much the more cheerfully1 and with so much the less care how it went1 as it wholly depended upon my overconfidence of fortune4 ,i never lived more at my ease2 ,i never had the repulse of finding the purse of any of my friends shut against me1 having enjoined myself this necessity above all other necessities whatever1 by no means to fail of payment at the appointed time1 which also they have a thousand times respited1 seeing how careful ,i was to satisfy them2 so that ,i practised at once a thrifty1 and withal a kind of alluring1 honesty4 ,i naturally feel a kind of pleasure in paying1 as if ,i eased my shoulders of a troublesome weight and freed myself from an image of slavery2 as also that ,i find a ravishing kind of satisfaction in pleasing another and doing a just action4 ,i except payments where the trouble of bargaining and reckoning is required2 and in such cases2 where ,i can meet with nobody to ease me of that charge1 ,i delay them1 how scandalously and injuriously soever1 all ,i possibly can1 for fear of the wranglings for which both my humour and way of speaking are so totally improper and unfit4 ,there is nothing ,i hate so much as driving a bargain2 'tis a mere traffic of cozenage and impudence1 where1 after an hour's cheapening and hesitating1 both parties abandon their word and oath for five sols' abatement4 ,yet ,i always borrowed at great disadvantage2 for1 wanting the confidence to speak to the person myself1 ,i committed my request to the persuasion of a letter1 which usually is no very successful advocate1 and is of very great advantage to him who has a mind to deny4 ,i1 in those days1 more jocundly and freely referred the conduct of my affairs to the stars1 than ,i have since done to my own providence and judgment4 ,most good managers look upon it as a horrible thing to live always thus in uncertainty1 and do not consider1 in the first place1 that the greatest part of the world live so3 how many worthy men have wholly abandoned their own certainties1 and yet daily do it1 to the winds1 to trust to the inconstant favour of princes and of fortune8 ,caesar ran above a million of gold1 more than he was worth1 in debt to become ,caesar2 and how many merchants have begun their traffic by the sale of their farms1 which they sent into the ,indies1 ,tot per impotentia freta4 ,through so many ungovernable seas4--,catullus1 iv4 #ah4 ,in so great a siccity of devotion as we see in these days1 we have a thousand and a thousand colleges that pass it over commodiously enough1 expecting every day their dinner from the liberality of ,heaven4 ,secondly1 they do not take notice that this certitude upon which they so much rely is not much less uncertain and hazardous than hazard itself4 ,i see misery as near beyond two thousand crowns a year as if it stood close by me2 for besides that it is in the power of chance to make a hundred breaches to poverty through the greatest strength of our riches --there being very often no mean betwixt the highest and the lowest fortune3 ,fortuna vitrea est3 turn1 quum splendet1 frangitur1 ,fortune is glass3 in its greatest brightness it breaks4 --,ex ,mim4 ,p4 ,syrus4 and to turn all our barricadoes and bulwarks topsy-turvy1 ,i find that1 by divers causes1 indigence is as frequently seen to inhabit with those who have estates as with those that have none2 and that1 peradventure1 it is then far less grievous when alone than when accompanied with riches4 ,these flow more from good management than from revenue2 ,faber est suae quisque fortunae ,every one is the maker of his own fortune4 --,sallust1 ,de ,repub4 ,ord41 i4 ,i4 and an uneasy1 necessitous1 busy1 rich man seems to me more miserable than he that is simply poor4 ,in divitiis mopes1 quod genus egestatis gravissimum est4 ,poor in the midst of riches1 which is the sorest kind of poverty4 --,seneca1 ,ep41 #gd4 ,the greatest and most wealthy princes are by poverty and want driven to the most extreme necessity2 for can there be any more extreme than to become tyrants and unjust usurpers of their subjects' goods and estates8 ,my second condition of life was to have money of my own1 wherein ,i so ordered the matter that ,i had soon laid up a very notable sum out of a mean fortune1 considering with myself that that only was to be reputed having which a man reserves from his ordinary expense1 and that a man cannot absolutely rely upon revenue he hopes to receive1 how clear soever the hope may be4 ,for what1 said ,i1 if ,i should be surprised by such or such an accident8 ,and after such-like vain and vicious imaginations1 would very learnedly1 by this hoarding of money1 provide against all inconveniences2 and could1 moreover1 answer such as objected to me that the number of these was too infinite1 that if ,i could not lay up for all1 ,i could1 however1 do it at least for some and for many4 ,yet was not this done without a great deal of solicitude and anxiety of mind2 ,i kept it very close1 and though ,i dare talk so boldly of myself1 never spoke of my money1 but falsely1 as others do1 who being rich1 pretend to be poor1 and being poor1 pretend to be rich1 dispensing their consciences from ever telling sincerely what they have3 a ridiculous and shameful prudence4 ,was ,i going a journey8 ,methought ,i was never enough provided3 and the more ,i loaded myself with money1 the more also was ,i loaded with fear1 one while of the danger of the roads1 another of the fidelity of him who had the charge of my baggage1 of whom1 as some others that ,i know1 ,i was never sufficiently secure if ,i had him not always in my eye4 ,if ,i chanced to leave my cash-box behind me1 ,o1 what strange suspicions and anxiety of mind did ,i enter into1 and1 which was worse1 without daring to acquaint anybody with it4 ,my mind was eternally taken up with such things as these1 so that1 all things considered1 there is more trouble in keeping money than in getting it4 ,and if ,i did not altogether so much as ,i say1 or was not really so scandalously solicitous of my money as ,i have made myself out to be1 yet it cost me something at least to restrain myself from being so4 ,i reaped little or no advantage by what ,i had1 and my expenses seemed nothing less to me for having the more to spend2 for1 as ,bion said1 the hairy men are as angry as the bald to be pulled2 and after you are once accustomed to it and have once set your heart upon your heap1 it is no more at your service2 you cannot find in your heart to break it3 'tis a building that you will fancy must of necessity all tumble down to ruin if you stir but the least pebble2 necessity must first take you by the throat before you can prevail upon yourself to touch it2 and ,i would sooner have pawned anything ,i had1 or sold a horse1 and with much less constraint upon myself1 than have made the least breach in that beloved purse ,i had so carefully laid by4 ,but the danger was that a man cannot easily prescribe certain limits to this desire 7they are hard to find in things that a man conceives to be good71 and to stint this good husbandry so that it may not degenerate into avarice3 men still are intent upon adding to the heap and increasing the stock from sum to sum1 till at last they vilely deprive themselves of the enjoyment of their own proper goods1 and throw all into reserve1 without making any use of them at all4 ,according to this rule1 they are the richest people in the world who are set to guard the walls and gates of a wealthy city4 ,all moneyed men ,i conclude to be covetous4 ,plato places corporal or human goods in this order3 health1 beauty1 strength1 riches2 and riches1 says he1 are not blind1 but very clear-sighted1 when illuminated by prudence4 ,dionysius the son did a very handsome act upon this subject2 he was informed that one of the ,syracusans had hid a treasure in the earth1 and thereupon sent to the man to bring it to him1 which he accordingly did1 privately reserving a small part of it only to himself1 with which he went to another city1 where being cured of his appetite of hoarding1 he began to live at a more liberal rate2 which ,dionysius hearing1 caused the rest of his treasure to be restored to him1 saying1 that since he had learned to use it1 he very willingly returned it back to him4 ,i continued some years in this hoarding humour1 when ,i know not what good demon fortunately put me out of it1 as he did the ,syracusan1 and made me throw abroad all my reserve at random1 the pleasure of a certain journey ,i took at very great expense having made me spurn this fond love of money underfoot2 by which means ,i am now fallen into a third way of living 7,i speak what ,i think of it71 doubtless much more pleasant and regular1 which is1 that ,i live at the height of my revenue2 sometimes the one1 sometimes the other may perhaps exceed1 but 'tis very little and but rarely that they differ4 ,i live from hand to mouth1 and content myself in having sufficient for my present and ordinary expense2 for as to extraordinary occasions1 all the laying up in the world would never suffice4 ,and 'tis the greatest folly imaginable to expect that fortune should ever sufficiently arm us against herself2 'tis with our own arms that we are to fight her2 accidental ones will betray us in the pinch of the business4 ,if ,i lay up1 'tis for some near and contemplated purpose2 not to purchase lands1 of which ,i have no need1 but to purchase pleasure3 ,non esse cupidum1 pecunia est2 non esse emacem1 vertigal est4 ,not to be covetous1 is money2 not to be acquisitive1 is revenue4 --,cicero1 ,paradox41 vi4 #c4 ,i neither am in any great apprehension of wanting1 nor in desire of any more3 ,divinarum fructus est in copia2 copiam declarat satietas4 ,the fruit of riches is in abundance2 satiety declares abundance4 --,idem1 ibid41 vi4 #b4 ,and ,i am very well pleased that this reformation in me has fallen out in an age naturally inclined to avarice1 and that ,i see myself cleared of a folly so common to old men1 and the most ridiculous of all human follies4 ,feraulez1 a man that had run through both fortunes1 and found that the increase of substance was no increase of appetite either to eating or drinking1 sleeping or the enjoyment of his wife1 and who on the other side felt the care of his economics lie heavy upon his shoulders1 as it does on mine1 was resolved to please a poor young man1 his faithful friend1 who panted after riches1 and made him a gift of all his1 which were excessively great1 and1 moreover1 of all he was in the daily way of getting by the liberality of ,cyrus1 his good master1 and by the war2 conditionally that he should take care handsomely to maintain and plentifully to entertain him as his guest and friend2 which being accordingly done1 they afterwards lived very happily together1 both of them equally content with the change of their condition4 ',tis an example that ,i could imitate with all my heart2 and ,i very much approve the fortune of the aged prelate whom ,i see to have so absolutely stripped himself of his purse1 his revenue1 and care of his expense1 committing them one while to one trusty servant1 and another while to another1 that he has spun out a long succession of years1 as ignorant1 by this means1 of his domestic affairs as a mere stranger4 ,the confidence in another man's virtue is no light evidence of a man's own1 and ,god willingly favours such a confidence4 ,as to what concerns him of whom ,i am speaking1 ,i see nowhere a better governed house1 more nobly and constantly maintained than his4 ,happy to have regulated his affairs to so just a proportion that his estate is sufficient to do it without his care or trouble1 and without any hindrance1 either in the spending or laying it up1 to his other more quiet employments1 and more suitable both to his place and liking4 ,plenty1 then1 and indigence depend upon the opinion every one has of them2 and riches no more than glory or health have other beauty or pleasure than he lends them by whom they are possessed4 ,every one is well or ill at ease1 according as he so finds himself2 not he whom the world believes1 but he who believes himself to be so1 is content2 and in this alone belief gives itself being and reality4 ,fortune does us neither good nor hurt2 she only presents us the matter and the seed1 which our soul1 more powerful than she1 turns and applies as she best pleases2 the sole cause and sovereign mistress of her own happy or unhappy condition4 ,all external accessions receive taste and colour from the internal constitution1 as clothes warm us1 not with their heat1 but our own1 which they are fit to cover and nourish2 he who would shield therewith a cold body1 would do the same service for the cold1 for so snow and ice are preserved4 ,and1 certes1 after the same manner that study is a torment to an idle man1 abstinence from wine to a drunkard1 frugality to the spendthrift1 and exercise to a lazy1 tender-bred fellow1 so it is of all the rest4 ,the things are not so painful and difficult of themselves1 but our weakness or cowardice makes them so4 ,to judge of great1 and high matters requires a suitable soul2 otherwise we attribute the vice to them which is really our own4 ,a straight oar seems crooked in the water it does not only import that we see the thing1 but how and after what manner we see it4 ,after all this1 why1 amongst so many discourses that by so many arguments persuade men to despise death and to endure pain1 can we not find out one that helps us8 ,and of so many sorts of imaginations as have so prevailed upon others as to persuade them to do so1 why does not every one apply some one to himself1 the most suitable to his own humour8 ,if he cannot digest a strong-working decoction to eradicate the evil1 let him at least take a lenitive to ease it3 ,it is an effeminate and flimsy opinion1 nor more so in pain than in pleasure1 in which1 while we are at our ease1 we cannot bear without a cry the sting of a bee4 ,the whole business is to commend thyself4--,cicero1 ,tusc4 ,quaes41 ii4 #bb4 ,as to the rest1 a man does not transgress philosophy by permitting the acrimony of pains and human frailty to prevail so much above measure2 for they constrain her to go back to her unanswerable replies3 ,if it be ill to live in necessity1 at least there is no necessity upon a man to live in necessity3 ,no man continues ill long but by his own fault4 ,he who has neither the courage to die nor the heart to live1 who will neither resist nor fly1 what can we do with him8 ,,chapter ,,xli ,,not ,,to ,,communicate ,a ,,man',s ,,honour ,of all the follies of the world1 that which is most universally received is the solicitude of reputation and glory2 which we are fond of to that degree as to abandon riches1 peace1 life1 and health1 which are effectual and substantial goods1 to pursue this vain phantom and empty word1 that has neither body nor hold to be taken of it3 ,la fama1 ch'invaghisce a un dolce suono ,gli superbi mortali1 et par si bella1 ,e un eco1 un sogno1 anzi d'un sogno un'ombra1 ,ch'ad ogni vento si dilegua a sgombra4 ,fame1 which with alluring sound charms proud mortals1 and appears so fair1 is but an echo1 a dream1 nay1 the shadow of a dream1 which at every breath vanishes and dissolves4 --,tasso1 ,gerus41 xiv4 #fc4 ,and of all the irrational humours of men1 it should seem that the philosophers themselves are among the last and the most reluctant to disengage themselves from this3 'tis the most restive and obstinate of all3 ,quia etiam bene proficientes animos tentare non cessat4 ,because it ceases not to assail even well-directed minds --,st4 ,augustin1 ,de ,civit4 ,dei1 v4 #ad4 ,there is not any one of which reason so clearly accuses the vanity2 but it is so deeply rooted in us that ,i dare not determine whether any one ever clearly discharged himself from it or no4 ,after you have said all and believed all has been said to its prejudice1 it produces so intestine an inclination in opposition to your best arguments that you have little power to resist it2 for1 as ,cicero says1 even those who most controvert it1 would yet that the books they write about it should visit the light under their own names1 and seek to derive glory from seeming to despise it4 ,all other things are communicable and fall into commerce3 we lend our goods and stake our lives for the necessity and service of our friends2 but to communicate a man's honour1 and to robe another with a man's own glory1 is very rarely seen4 ,and yet we have some examples of that kind4 ,catulus ,luctatius in the ,cimbrian war1 having done all that in him lay to make his flying soldiers face about upon the enemy1 ran himself at last away with the rest1 and counterfeited the coward1 to the end his men might rather seem to follow their captain than to fly from the enemy2 which was to abandon his own reputation in order to cover the shame of others4 ,when ,charles ,v4 came into ,provence in the year #aecg1 'tis said that ,antonio de ,leva1 seeing the emperor positively resolved upon this expedition1 and believing it would redound very much to his honour1 did1 nevertheless1 very stiffly oppose it in the council1 to the end that the entire glory of that resolution should be attributed to his master1 and that it might be said his own wisdom and foresight had been such as that1 contrary to the opinion of all1 he had brought about so great an enterprise2 which was to do him honour at his own expense4 ,the ,thracian ambassadors coming to comfort ,archileonida1 the mother of ,brasidas1 upon the death of her son1 and commending him to that height as to say he had not left his like behind him1 she rejected this private and particular commendation to attribute it to the public3 ,tell me not that1 said she2 ,i know the city of ,sparta has many citizens both greater and of greater worth than he4 ,in the battle of ,crecy1 the ,prince of ,wales1 being then very young1 had the vanguard committed to him3 the main stress of the battle happened to be in that place1 which made the lords who were with him1 finding themselves overmatched1 send to ,king ,edward to advance to their relief4 ,he inquired of the condition his son was in1 and being answered that he was alive and on horseback3 ,i should1 then1 do him wrong1 said the king1 now to go and deprive him of the honour of winning this battle he has so long and so bravely sustained2 what hazard soever he runs1 that shall be entirely his own2 and1 accordingly1 would neither go nor send1 knowing that if he went1 it would be said all had been lost without his succour1 and that the honour of the victory would be wholly attributed to him4 ,semper enim quod postremum adjectum est1 id rem totam videtur traxisse4 ,for always that which is last added1 seems to have accomplished the whole affair4--,livy1 xxvii4 #de4 ,many at ,rome thought1 and would usually say1 that the greatest of ,scipio's acts were in part due to ,laelius1 whose constant practice it was still to advance and support ,scipio's grandeur and renown1 without any care of his own4 ,and ,theopompus1 king of ,sparta1 to him who told him the republic could not miscarry since he knew so well how to command1 ,tis rather1 answered he1 because the people know so well how to obey4 ,as women succeeding to peerages had1 notwithstanding their sex1 the privilege to attend and give their votes in the trials that appertained to the jurisdiction of peers2 so the ecclesiastical peers1 notwithstanding their profession1 were obliged to attend our kings in their wars1 not only with their friends and servants1 but in their own persons4 ,as the ,bishop of ,beauvais did1 who being with ,philip ,augustus at the battle of ,bouvines1 had a notable share in that action2 but he did not think it fit for him to participate in the fruit and glory of that violent and bloody trade4 ,he with his own hand reduced several of the enemy that day to his mercy1 whom he delivered to the first gentleman he met either to kill or receive them to quarter1 referring the whole execution to this other hand2 and he did this with regard to ,william1 ,earl of ,salisbury1 whom he gave up to ,messire ,jehan de ,nesle4 ,with a like subtlety of conscience to that ,i have just named1 he would kill but not wound1 and for that reason ever fought with a mace4 ,and a certain person of my time1 being reproached by the king that he had laid hands on a priest1 stiffly and positively denied he had done any such thing3 the meaning of which was1 he had cudgelled and kicked him4 ,,chapter ,,xlii ,,of ,,the ,,inequality ,,amoungst ,,us4 ,plutarch says somewhere that he does not find so great a difference betwixt beast and beast as he does betwixt man and man2 which he says in reference to the internal qualities and perfections of the soul4 ,and1 in truth1 ,i find so vast a distance betwixt ,epaminondas1 according to my judgment of him1 and some that ,i know1 who are yet men of good sense1 that ,i could willingly enhance upon ,plutarch1 and say that there is more difference betwixt such and such a man than there is betwixt such a man and such a beast3 ,ah6 how much may one man surpass another6 --,terence1 ,eunuchus1 ii4 #b4 and that there are as many and innumerable degrees of mind as there are cubits betwixt this and heaven4 ,but as touching the estimate of men1 'tis strange that1 ourselves excepted1 no other creature is esteemed beyond its proper qualities2 we commend a horse for his strength and sureness of foot1 ,volucrem ,sic laudamus equum1 facili cui plurima palma ,fervet1 et exsultat rauco victoria circo1 ,so we praise the swift horse1 for whose easy mastery many a hand glows in applause1 and victory exults in the hoarse circus4 --,juvenal1 viii4 #eg4 and not for his rich caparison2 a greyhound for his speed of heels1 not for his fine collar2 a hawk for her wing1 not for her gesses and bells4 ,why1 in like manner1 do we not value a man for what is properly his own8 ,he has a great train1 a beautiful palace1 so much credit1 so many thousand pounds a year3 all these are about him1 but not in him4 ,you will not buy a pig in a poke3 if you cheapen a horse1 you will see him stripped of his housing-cloths1 you will see him naked and open to your eye2 or if he be clothed1 as they anciently were wont to present them to princes to sell1 'tis only on the less important parts1 that you may not so much consider the beauty of his colour or the breadth of his crupper1 as principally to examine his legs1 eyes1 and feet1 which are the members of greatest use3 ,regibus hic mos est3 ubi equos mercantur1 opertos ,inspiciunt2 ne1 si facies1 ut saepe1 decora ,molli fulta pede est1 emptorem inducat hiantem ,this is the custom of kings3 when they buy horses1 they have open inspection1 lest1 if a fair head1 as often chances1 is supported by a weak foot1 it should tempt the gaping purchaser4 --,horace1 ,sat41 i4 #b1 #hf4 why1 in giving your estimate of a man1 do you prize him wrapped and muffled up in clothes8 ,he then discovers nothing to you but such parts as are not in the least his own1 and conceals those by which alone one may rightly judge of his value4 ',tis the price of the blade that you inquire into1 not of the scabbard3 you would not peradventure bid a farthing for him1 if you saw him stripped4 ,you are to judge him by himself and not by what he wears2 and1 as one of the ancients very pleasantly said3 ,do you know why you repute him tall8 ,you reckon withal the height of his pattens4--,seneca1 ,ep4 #gf4--,the pedestal is no part of the statue4 ,measure him without his stilts2 let him lay aside his revenues and his titles2 let him present himself in his shirt4 ,then examine if his body be sound and sprightly1 active and disposed to perform its functions4 ,what soul has he8 ,is she beautiful1 capable1 and happily provided of all her faculties8 ,is she rich of what is her own1 or of what she has borrowed8 ,has fortune no hand in the affair8 ,can she1 without winking1 stand the lightning of swords8 is she indifferent whether her life expire by the mouth or through the throat8 ,is she settled1 even and content8 ,this is what is to be examined1 and by that you are to judge of the vast differences betwixt man and man4 ,is he3 ,sapiens1 sibique imperiosus1 ,quern neque pauperies1 neque mors1 neque vincula terrent2 ,responsare cupidinibus1 contemnere honores ,fortis2 et in seipso totus teres atque rotundus1 ,externi ne quid valeat per laeve morari2 ,in quem manca ruit semper fortuna8 ,the wise man1 self-governed1 whom neither poverty1 nor death1 nor chains affright3 who has the strength to resist his appetites and to contemn honours3 who is wholly self-contained3 whom no external objects affect3 whom fortune assails in vain4 --,horace1 ,sat41 ii4 #g1 such a man is five hundred cubits above kingdoms and duchies2 he is an absolute monarch in and to himself3 ,sapiens1 4 4 4 ,pol6 ipse fingit fortunam sibi2 ,the wise man is the master of his own fortune1 --,plautus1 ,trin41 ii4 #b1 #hd4 what remains for him to covet or desire8 ,nonne videmus1 ,nil aliud sibi naturam latrare1 nisi ut1 quoi ,corpore sejunctus dolor absit1 mente fruatur1 ,jucundo sensu1 cura semotu' metuque8 ,do we not see that human nature asks no more for itself than that1 free from bodily pain1 it may exercise its mind agreeably1 exempt from care and fear4--,lucretius1 ii4 #af4 ,compare with such a one the common rabble of mankind1 stupid and mean-spirited1 servile1 instable1 and continually floating with the tempest of various passions1 that tosses and tumbles them to and fro1 and all depending upon others1 and you will find a greater distance than betwixt heaven and earth2 and yet the blindness of common usage is such that we make little or no account of it2 whereas if we consider a peasant and a king1 a nobleman and a vassal1 a magistrate and a private man1 a rich man and a poor1 there appears a vast disparity1 though they differ no more1 as a man may say1 than in their breeches4 ,in ,thrace the king was distinguished from his people after a very pleasant and especial manner2 he had a religion by himself1 a god all his own1 and which his subjects were not to presume to adore1 which was ,mercury1 whilst1 on the other hand1 he disdained to have anything to do with theirs1 ,mars1 ,bacchus1 and ,diana4 ,and yet they are no other than pictures that make no essential dissimilitude2 for as you see actors in a play representing the person of a duke or an emperor upon the stage1 and immediately after return to their true and original condition of valets and porters1 so the emperor1 whose pomp and lustre so dazzle you in public3 ,scilicet grandes viridi cum luce smaragdi ,auto includuntur1 teriturque thalassina vestis ,assidue1 et ,veneris sudorem exercita potat2 ,because he wears great emeralds richly set in gold1 darting green lustre2 and the sea-blue silken robe1 worn with pressure1 and moist with illicit love 7and absorbs the sweat of ,venus74 --,lucretius1 iv4 #aabc4 do but peep behind the curtain1 and you will see no thing more than an ordinary man1 and peradventure more contemptible than the meanest of his subjects3 ,ille beatus introrsum est1 istius bracteata felicitas est2 ,the one is happy in himself2 the happiness of the other is counterfeit4--,seneca1 ,ep41 #aae4 cowardice1 irresolution1 ambition1 spite1 and envy agitate him as much as another3 ,non enim gazae1 neque consularis ,submovet lictor miseros tumultus ,mentis1 et curas laqueata circum ,tecta volantes4 ,for not treasures1 nor the consular lictor1 can remove the miserable tumults of the mind1 nor cares that fly about panelled ceilings4--,horace1 ,od41 ii4 #af1 #i4 ,care and fear attack him even in the centre of his battalions3 ,re veraque metus hominum curaeque sequaces ,nec metuunt sonitus armorum1 nee fera tela2 ,audacterque inter reges1 rerumque potentes ,versantur1 neque fulgorem reverentur ab auro4 ,and in truth the fears and haunting cares of men fear not the clash of arms nor points of darts1 and mingle boldly with great kings and men in authority1 nor respect the glitter of gold4 --,lucretius1 ii4 #dg4 ,do fevers1 gout1 and apoplexies spare him any more than one of us8 ,when old age hangs heavy upon his shoulders1 can the yeomen of his guard ease him of the burden8 ,when he is astounded with the apprehension of death1 can the gentlemen of his bedchamber comfort and assure him8 ,when jealousy or any other caprice swims in his brain1 can our compliments and ceremonies restore him to his good-humour8 ,the canopy embroidered with pearl and gold he lies under has no virtue against a violent fit of the colic3 ,nee calidae citius decedunt corpore febres ,textilibus si in picturis1 ostroque rubenti ,jactaris1 quam si plebeia in veste cubandum est4 ,nor do burning fevers quit you sooner if you are stretched on a couch of rich tapestry and in a vest of purple dye1 than if you be in a coarse blanket4--,idem1 ii4 #cd4 ,the flatterers of ,alexander the ,great possessed him that he was the son of ,jupiter2 but being one day wounded1 and observing the blood stream from his wound3 ,what say you now1 my masters1 said he1 is not this blood of a crimson colour and purely human8 ,this is not of the complexion of that which ,homer makes to issue from the wounded gods4 ,the poet ,hermodorus had written a poem in honour of ,antigonus1 wherein he called him the son of the sun3 ,he who has the emptying of my close-stool1 said ,antigonus1 knows to the contrary4 ,he is but a man at best1 and if he be deformed or ill-qualified from his birth1 the empire of the universe cannot set him to rights3 ,puellae ,hunc rapiant2 quidquid calcaverit hic1 rosa fiat1 ,let girls carry him off2 wherever he steps let there spring up a rose6--,persius1 ,sat41 ii4 #ch4 what of all that1 if he be a fool8 even pleasure and good fortune are not relished without vigour and understanding3 ,haec perinde sunt1 ut ilius animus2 qui ea possidet ,qui uti scit1 ei bona2 illi1 qui non uritur recte1 mala4 ,things are1 as is the mind of their possessor2 who knows how to use them1 to him they are good2 to him who abuses them1 ill4 --,terence1 ,heart41 i4 #c1 #ba4 ,whatever the benefits of fortune are1 they yet require a palate to relish them4 ',tis fruition1 and not possession1 that renders us happy3 ',tis not lands1 or a heap of brass and gold1 that has removed fevers from the ailing body of the owner1 or cares from his mind4 ,the possessor must be healthy1 if he thinks to make good use of his realised wealth4 ,to him who is covetous or timorous his house and estate are as a picture to a blind man1 or a fomentation to a gouty4--,horace1 ,ep41 i4 #b1 #dg4 ,he is a sot1 his taste is palled and flat2 he no more enjoys what he has than one that has a cold relishes the flavour of canary1 or than a horse is sensible of his rich caparison4 ,plato is in the right when he tells us that health1 beauty1 vigour1 and riches1 and all the other things called goods1 are equally evil to the unjust as good to the just1 and the evil on the contrary the same4 ,and therefore where the body and the mind are in disorder1 to what use serve these external conveniences3 considering that the least prick with a pin1 or the least passion of the soul1 is sufficient to deprive one of the pleasure of being sole monarch of the world4 ,at the first twitch of the gout it signifies much to be called ,sir and ,your ,majesty6 ,totus et argento conflatus1 totus et auro2 ,wholly made up of silver and gold4--,tibullus1 i4 #b1 #gj4 does he not forget his palaces and girandeurs8 ,if he be angry1 can his being a prince keep him from looking red and looking pale1 and grinding his teeth like a madman8 ,now1 if he be a man of parts and of right nature1 royalty adds very little to his happiness2 ,si ventri bene1 si lateri est1 pedibusque tuffs1 nil ,divitix poterunt regales addere majus2 ,if it is well with thy belly1 thy side and thy feet1 regal wealth will be able to add nothing4--,horace1 ,ep41 i4 #ab1 #e4 he discerns 'tis nothing but counterfeit and gullery4 ,nay1 perhaps he would be of ,king ,seleucus' opinion1 that he who knew the weight of a sceptre would not stoop to pick it up1 if he saw it lying before him1 so great and painful are the duties incumbent upon a good king4--,plutarch1 ,if a ,sage should ,meddle with ,affairs of ,stale1 c4 #ab4--;,assuredly it can be no easy task to rule others1 when we find it so hard a matter to govern ourselves2 and as to dominion1 that seems so charming1 the frailty of human judgment and the difficulty of choice in things that are new and doubtful considered1 ,i am very much of opinion that it is far more easy and pleasant to follow than to lead2 and that it is a great settlement and satisfaction of mind to have only one path to walk in1 and to have none to answer for but a man's self2 ,ut satius multo jam sit parere quietum1 ,quam regere imperio res velle4 ',tis much better quietly to obey than wish to rule4 --,lucretius1 ,v1 #aabf4 ,to which we may add that saying of ,cyrus1 that no man was fit to rule but he who in his own worth was of greater value than those he was to govern2 but ,king ,hiero in ,xenophon says further1 that in the fruition even of pleasure itself they are in a worse condition than private men2 forasmuch as the opportunities and facility they have of commanding those things at will takes off from the delight that ordinary folks enjoy3 ,pinguis amor1 nimiumque patens1 in taedia nobis ,vertitur1 et1 stomacho dulcis ut esca1 nocet4 ,love in excess and too palpable turns to weariness1 and1 like sweetmeats to the stomach1 is injurious4--,ovid1 ,amoy41 ii4 #ai1 #be4 ,can we think that the singing boys of the choir take any great delight in music8 the satiety rather renders it troublesome and tedious to them4 ,feasts1 balls1 masquerades and tiltings delight such as but rarely see1 and desire to see1 them2 but having been frequently at such entertainments1 the relish of them grows flat and insipid4 ,nor do women so much delight those who make a common practice of the sport4 ,he who will not give himself leisure to be thirsty can never find the true pleasure of drinking4 ,farces and tumbling tricks are pleasant to the spectators1 but a wearisome toil to those by whom they are performed4 ,and that this is so1 we see that princes divert themselves sometimes in disguising their quality1 awhile to depose themselves1 and to stoop to the poor and ordinary way of living of the meanest of their people4 ,plerumque gratae divitibus vices ,mundaeque parvo sub lare pauperum ,coenae1 sine aulaeis et ostro1 ,soliicitam explicuere frontem4 ,the rich are often pleased with variety2 and the plain supper in a poor cottage1 without tapestry and purple1 has relaxed the anxious brow4--,horace1 ,od41 iii4 #bi1 #ac4 ,nothing is so distasteful and clogging as abundance4 ,what appetite would not be baffled to see three hundred women at its mercy1 as the grand signor has in his seraglio8 ,and1 of his ancestors what fruition or taste of sport did he reserve to himself1 who never went hawking without seven thousand falconers8 ,and besides all this1 ,i fancy that this lustre of grandeur brings with it no little disturbance and uneasiness upon the enjoyment of the most tempting pleasures2 the great are too conspicuous and lie too open to every one's view4 ,neither do ,i know to what end a man should more require of them to conceal their errors1 since what is only reputed indiscretion in us1 the people in them brand with the names of tyranny and contempt of the laws1 and1 besides their proclivity to vice1 are apt to hold that it is a heightening of pleasure to them1 to insult over and to trample upon public observances4 ,plato1 indeed1 in his ,goygias1 defines a tyrant to be one who in a city has licence to do whatever his own will leads him to do2 and by reason of this impunity1 the display and publication of their vices do ofttimes more mischief than the vice itself4 ,every one fears to be pried into and overlooked2 but princes are so1 even to their very gestures1 looks and thoughts1 the people conceiving they have right and title to be judges of them besides that the blemishes of the great naturally appear greater by reason of the eminence and lustre of the place where they are seated1 and that a mole or a wart appears greater in them than a wide gash in others4 ,and this is the reason why the poets feign the amours of ,jupiter to be performed in the disguises of so many borrowed shapes1 and that amongst the many amorous practices they lay to his charge1 there is only one1 as ,i remember1 where he appears in his own majesty and grandeur4 ,but let us return to ,hiero1 who further complains of the inconveniences he found in his royalty1 in that he could not look abroad and travel the world at liberty1 being as it were a prisoner in the bounds and limits of his own dominion1 and that in all his actions he was evermore surrounded with an importunate crowd4 ,and in truth1 to see our kings sit all alone at table1 environed with so many people prating about them1 and so many strangers staring upon them1 as they always are1 ,i have often been moved rather to pity than to envy their condition4 ,king ,alfonso was wont to say1 that in this asses were in a better condition than kings1 their masters permitting them to feed at their own ease and pleasure1 a favour that kings cannot obtain of their servants4 ,and it has never come into my fancy that it could be of any great benefit to the life of a man of sense to have twenty people prating about him when he is at stool2 or that the services of a man of ten thousand livres a year1 or that has taken ,casale or defended ,siena1 should be either more commodious or more acceptable to him1 than those of a good groom of the chamber who understands his place4 ,the advantages of sovereignty are in a manner but imaginary3 every degree of fortune has in it some image of principality4 ,caesar calls all the lords of ,france1 having free franchise within their own demesnes1 roitelets or petty kings2 and in truth1 the name of sire excepted1 they go pretty far towards kingship2 for do but look into the provinces remote from court1 as ,brittany for example2 take notice of the train1 the vassals1 the officers1 the employments1 service1 ceremony1 and state of a lord who lives retired from court in his own house1 amongst his own tenants and servants2 and observe withal the flight of his imagination2 there is nothing more royal2 he hears talk of his master once a year1 as of a king of ,persia1 without taking any further recognition of him1 than by some remote kindred his secretary keeps in some register4 ,and1 to speak the truth1 our laws are easy enough1 so easy that a gentleman of ,france scarce feels the weight of sovereignty pinch his shoulders above twice in his life4 ,real and effectual subjection only concerns such amongst us as voluntarily thrust their necks under the yoke1 and who design to get wealth and honours by such services3 for a man that loves his own fireside1 and can govern his house without falling by the ears with his neighbours or engaging in suits of law1 is as free as a ,duke of ,venice4 ,paucos servitus1 plures servitutem tenent4 ,servitude enchains few1 but many enchain themselves to servitude4--,seneca1 ,ep41 #bb4 ,but that which ,hiero is most concerned at is1 that he finds himself stripped of all friendship1 deprived of all mutual society1 wherein the true and most perfect fruition of human life consists4 ,for what testimony of affection and goodwill can ,i extract from him that owes me1 whether he will or no1 all that he is able to do8 ,can ,i form any assurance of his real respect to me1 from his humble way of speaking and submissive behaviour1 when these are ceremonies it is not in his choice to deny8 ,the honour we receive from those that fear us is not honour2 those respects are due to royalty and not to me3 ,maximum hoc regni bonum est ,quod facta domini cogitur populus sui ,quam ferre1 tam laudare4 ',tis the greatest benefit of a kingdom that the people is forced to commend1 as well as to bear the acts of the ruler4 --,seneca1 ,thyestes1 ii4 i1 #cj4 ,do ,i not see that the wicked and the good king1 he that is hated and he that is beloved1 have the one as much reverence paid him as the other8 ,my predecessor was1 and my successor shall be1 served with the same ceremony and state4 ,if my subjects do me no harm1 'tis no evidence of any good affection2 why should ,i look upon it as such1 seeing it is not in their power to do it if they would8 ,no one follows me or obeys my commands upon the account of any friendship1 betwixt him and me2 there can be no contracting of friendship where there is so little relation and correspondence3 my own height has put me out of the familiarity of and intelligence with men2 there is too great disparity and disproportion betwixt us4 ,they follow me either upon the account of decency and custom2 or rather my fortune1 than me1 to increase their own4 ,all they say to me or do for me is but outward paint1 appearance1 their liberty being on all parts restrained by the great power and authority ,i have over them4 ,i see nothing about me but what is dissembled and disguised4 ,the ,emperor ,julian being one day applauded by his courtiers for his exact justice3 ,i should be proud of these praises1 said he1 did they come from persons that durst condemn or disapprove the contrary1 in case ,i should do it4 ,all the real advantages of princes are common to them with men of meaner condition 7'tis for the gods to mount winged horses and feed upon ambrosia73 they have no other sleep1 nor other appetite than we2 the steel they arm themselves withal is of no better temper than that we also use2 their crowns neither defend them from the rain nor the sun4 ,diocletian1 who wore a crown so fortunate and revered1 resigned it to retire to the felicity of a private life2 and some time after the necessity of public affairs requiring that he should reassume his charge1 he made answer to those who came to court him to it3 ,you would not offer1 said he1 to persuade me to this1 had you seen the fine order of the trees ,i have planted in my orchard1 and the fair melons ,i have sown in my garden4 ,in ,anacharsis' opinion1 the happiest state of government would be where1 all other things being equal1 precedence should be measured out by the virtues1 and repulses by the vices of men4 ,when ,king ,pyrrhus prepared for his expedition into ,italy1 his wise counsellor ,cyneas1 to make him sensible of the vanity of his ambition3 ,well1 sir1 said he1 to what end do you make all this mighty preparation8--,to make myself master of ,italy1 replied the king4 ,and what after that is done8 said ,cyneas4 ,i will pass over into ,gaul and ,spain1 said the other4 ,and what then8--,i will then go to subdue ,africa2 and lastly1 when ,i have brought the whole world to my subjection1 ,i will sit down and rest content at my own ease4 ,for ,god sake1 sir1 replied ,cyneas1 tell me what hinders that you may not1 if you please1 be now in the condition you speak of8 ,why do you not now at this instant settle yourself in the state you seem to aim at1 and spare all the labour and hazard you interpose8 ,nimirum1 quia non cognovit1 qux esset habendi ,finis1 et omnino quoad crescat vera voluptas4 ,forsooth because he does not know what should be the limit of acquisition1 and altogether how far real pleasure should increase4 --,lucretius1 v4 #adca ,i will conclude with an old versicle1 that ,i think very apt to the purpose3 ,mores cuique sui fingunt fortunam4 ,every man frames his own fortune4 --,cornelius ,nepos1 ,life of ,atticus ,,chapter ,,xliii ,,of ,,sumptuary ,,laws ,the way by which our laws attempt to regulate idle and vain expenses in meat and clothes1 seems to be quite contrary to the end designed4 ,the true way would be to beget in men a contempt of silks and gold1 as vain1 frivolous1 and useless2 whereas we augment to them the honours1 and enhance the value of such things1 which1 sure1 is a very improper way to create a disgust4 ,for to enact that none but princes shall eat turbot1 shall wear velvet or gold lace1 and interdict these things to the people1 what is it but to bring them into a greater esteem1 and to set every one more agog to eat and wear them8 ,let kings leave off these ensigns of grandeur2 they have others enough besides2 those excesses are more excusable in any other than a prince4 ,we may learn by the example of several nations better ways of exterior distinction of quality 7which1 truly1 ,i conceive to be very requisite in a state7 enough1 without fostering to this purpose such corruption and manifest inconvenience4 ',tis strange how suddenly and with how much ease custom in these indifferent things establishes itself and becomes authority4 ,we had scarce worn cloth a year1 in compliance with the court1 for the mourning of ,henry ,,ii41 but that silks were already grown into such contempt with every one1 that a man so clad was presently concluded a citizen3 silks were divided betwixt the physicians and surgeons1 and though all other people almost went in the same habit1 there was1 notwithstanding1 in one thing or other1 sufficient distinction of the several conditions of men4 ,how suddenly do greasy chamois and linen doublets become the fashion in our armies1 whilst all neatness and richness of habit fall into contempt8 ,let kings but lead the dance and begin to leave off this expense1 and in a month the business will be done throughout the kingdom1 without edict or ordinance2 we shall all follow4 ,it should be rather proclaimed1 on the contrary1 that no one should wear scarlet or goldsmiths' work but courtesans and tumblers4 ,zeleucus by the like invention reclaimed the corrupted manners of the ,locrians4 ,his laws were1 that no free woman should be allowed any more than one maid to follow her1 unless she was drunk3 nor was to stir out of the city by night1 wear jewels of gold about her1 or go in an embroidered robe1 unless she was a professed and public prostitute2 that1 bravos excepted1 no man was to wear a gold ring1 nor be seen in one of those effeminate robes woven in the city of ,miletus4 ,by which infamous exceptions he discreetly diverted his citizens from superfluities and pernicious pleasures1 and it was a project of great utility to attract then by honour and ambition to their duty and obedience4 ,our kings can do what they please in such external reformations2 their own inclination stands in this case for a law3 ,quicquid principes faciunt1 praecipere videntur4 ,what princes themselves do1 they seem to prescribe4 --,quintil41 ,declam41 #c4 ,whatever is done at court passes for a rule through the rest of ,france4 ,let the courtiers fall out with these abominable breeches1 that discover so much of those parts should be concealed2 these great bellied doublets1 that make us look like ,i know not what1 and are so unfit to admit of arms2 these long effeminate locks of hair2 this foolish custom of kissing what we present to our equals1 and our hands in saluting them1 a ceremony in former times only due to princes4 ,let them not permit that a gentleman shall appear in place of respect without his sword1 unbuttoned and untrussed1 as though he came from the house of office2 and that1 contrary to the custom of our forefathers and the particular privilege of the nobles of this kingdom1 we stand a long time bare to them in what place soever1 and the same to a hundred others1 so many tiercelets and quartelets of kings we have got nowadays and other like vicious innovations3 they will see them all presently vanish and cried down4 ,these are1 'tis true1 but superficial errors2 but they are of ill augury1 and enough to inform us that the whole fabric is crazy and tottering1 when we see the roughcast of our walls to cleave and split4 ,plato in his ,laws esteems nothing of more pestiferous consequence to his city than to give young men the liberty of introducing any change in their habits1 gestures1 dances1 songs1 and exercises1 from one form to another2 shifting from this to that1 hunting after novelties1 and applauding the inventors2 by which means manners are corrupted and the old institutions come to be nauseated and despised4 ,in all things1 saving only in those that are evil1 a change is to be feared2 even the change of seasons1 winds1 viands1 and humours4 ,and no laws are in their true credit1 but such to which ,god has given so long a continuance that no one knows their beginning1 or that there ever was any other4 ,,chapter ,,xliv ,,of ,,sleep ,reason directs that we should always go the same way1 but not always at the same pace4 ,and1 consequently1 though a wise man ought not so much to give the reins to human passions as to let him deviate from the right path1 he may1 notwithstanding1 without prejudice to his duty1 leave it to them to hasten or to slacken his speed1 and not fix himself like a motionless and insensible ,colossus4 ,could virtue itself put on flesh and blood1 ,i believe the pulse would beat faster going on to assault than in going to dinner3 that is to say1 there is a necessity she should heat and be moved upon this account4 ,i have taken notice1 as of an extraordinary thing1 of some great men1 who in the highest enterprises and most important affairs have kept themselves in so settled and serene a calm1 as not at all to break their sleep4 ,alexander the ,great1 on the day assigned for that furious battle betwixt him and ,darius1 slept so profoundly and so long in the morning1 that ,parmenio was forced to enter his chamber1 and coming to his bedside1 to call him several times by his name1 the time to go to fight compelling him so to do4 ,the ,emperor ,otho1 having put on a resolution to kill himself that night1 after having settled his domestic affairs1 divided his money amongst his servants1 and set a good edge upon a sword he had made choice of for the purpose1 and now staying only to be satisfied whether all his friends had retired in safety1 he fell into so sound a sleep that the gentlemen of his chamber heard him snore4 ,the death of this emperor has in it circumstances paralleling that of the great ,cato1 and particularly this just related for ,cato being ready to despatch himself1 whilst he only stayed his hand in expectation of the return of a messenger he had sent to bring him news whether the senators he had sent away were put out from the ,port of ,utica1 he fell into so sound a sleep1 that they heard him snore in the next room2 and the man1 whom he had sent to the port1 having awakened him to let him know that the tempestuous weather had hindered the senators from putting to sea1 he despatched away another messenger1 and composing again himself in the bed1 settled to sleep1 and slept till by the return of the last messenger he had certain intelligence they were gone4 ,we may here further compare him with ,alexander in the great and dangerous storm that threatened him by the sedition of the tribune ,metellus1 who1 attempting to publish a decree for the calling in of ,pompey with his army into the city at the time of ,catiline's conspiracy1 was only and that stoutly opposed by ,cato1 so that very sharp language and bitter menaces passed betwixt them in the senate about that affair2 but it was the next day1 in the forenoon1 that the controversy was to be decided1 where ,metellus1 besides the favour of the people and of ,caesar--at that time of ,pompey's faction--was to appear accompanied with a rabble of slaves and gladiators2 and ,cato only fortified with his own courage and constancy2 so that his relations1 domestics1 and many virtuous people of his friends were in great apprehensions for him2 and to that degree1 that some there were who passed over the whole night without sleep1 eating1 or drinking1 for the danger they saw him running into2 his wife and sisters did nothing but weep and torment themselves in his house2 whereas1 he1 on the contrary1 comforted every one1 and after having supped after his usual manner1 went to bed1 and slept profoundly till morning1 when one of his fellow-tribunes roused him to go to the encounter4 ,the knowledge we have of the greatness of this man's courage by the rest of his life1 may warrant us certainly to judge that his indifference proceeded from a soul so much elevated above such accidents1 that he disdained to let it take any more hold of his fancy than any ordinary incident4 ,in the naval engagement that ,augustus won of ,sextus ,pompeius in ,sicily1 just as they were to begin the fight1 he was so fast asleep that his friends were compelled to wake him to give the signal of battle3 and this was it that gave ,mark ,antony afterwards occasion to reproach him that he had not the courage so much as with open eyes to behold the order of his own squadrons1 and not to have dared to present himself before the soldiers1 till first ,agrippa had brought him news of the victory obtained4 ,but as to the young ,marius1 who did much worse 7for the day of his last battle against ,sylla1 after he had marshalled his army and given the word and signal of battle1 he laid him down under the shade of a tree to repose himself1 and fell so fast asleep that the rout and flight of his men could hardly waken him1 he having seen nothing of the fight71 he is said to have been at that time so extremely spent and worn out with labour and want of sleep1 that nature could hold out no longer4 ,now1 upon what has been said1 the physicians may determine whether sleep be so necessary that our lives depend upon it3 for we read that ,king ,perseus of ,macedon1 being prisoner at ,rome1 was killed by being kept from sleep2 but ,pliny instances such as have lived long without sleep4 ,herodotus speaks of nations where the men sleep and wake by half-years1 and they who write the life of the sage ,epimenides affirm that he slept seven-and-fifty years together4 ,,chapter ,,xlv ,,of ,,the ,,battle ,,of ,,dreux ,december #ai1 #aefb1 in which the ,catholics1 under the command of the ,duc de ,guise and the ,constable de ,montmorenci1 defeated the ,protestants1 commanded by the ,prince de ,conde4 ,see ,sismondi1 ,hist4 des ,francais1 vol4 xviii41 p4 #ced4 ,our battle of ,dreux is remarkable for several extraordinary incidents2 but such as have no great kindness for ,m4 de ,guise1 nor much favour his reputation1 are willing to have him thought to blame1 and that his making a halt and delaying time with the forces he commanded1 whilst the ,constable1 who was general of the army1 was racked through and through with the enemy's artillery1 his battalion routed1 and himself taken prisoner1 is not to be excused2 and that he had much better have run the hazard of charging the enemy in flank1 than staying for the advantage of falling in upon the rear1 to suffer so great and so important a loss4 ,but1 besides what the event demonstrated1 he who will consider it without passion or prejudice will easily be induced to confess that the aim and design1 not of a captain only1 but of every private soldier1 ought to regard the victory in general1 and that no particular occurrences1 how nearly soever they may concern his own interest1 should divert him from that pursuit4 ,philopoemen1 in an encounter with ,machanidas1 having sent before a good strong party of his archers and slingers to begin the skirmish1 and these being routed and hotly pursued by the enemy1 who1 pushing on the fortune of their arms1 and in that pursuit passing by the battalion where ,philopoemen was1 though his soldiers were impatient to fall on1 he did not think fit to stir from his post nor to present himself to the enemy to relieve his men1 but having suffered these to be chased and cut in pieces before his face1 charged in upon the enemy's foot when he saw them left unprotected by the horse1 and notwithstanding that they were ,lacedaemonians1 yet taking them in the nick1 when thinking themselves secure of the victory1 they began to disorder their ranks2 he did this business with great facility1 and then put himself in pursuit of ,machanidas4 ,which case is very like that of ,monsieur de ,guise4 ,in that bloody battle betwixt ,agesilaus and the ,boeotians1 which ,xenophon1 who was present at it1 reports to be the sharpest that he had ever seen1 ,agesilaus waived the advantage that fortune presented him1 to let the ,boeotian battalions pass by and then to charge them in the rear1 how certain soever he might make himself of the victory1 judging it would rather be an effect of conduct than valour1 to proceed that way2 and therefore1 to show his prowess1 rather chose with a marvellous ardour of courage to charge them in the front2 but he was well beaten and well wounded for his pains1 and constrained at last to disengage himself1 and to take the course he had at first neglected2 opening his battalion to give way to this torrent of ,boeotians1 and they being passed by1 taking notice that they marched in disorder1 like men who thought themselves out of danger1 he pursued and charged them in flank2 yet could not so prevail as to bring it to so general a rout but that they leisurely retreated1 still facing about upon him till they had retired to safety4 ,,chapter ,,xlvi ,,of ,,names ,what variety of herbs soever are shufed together in the dish1 yet the whole mass is swallowed up under one name of a sallet4 ,in like manner1 under the consideration of names1 ,i will make a hodge-podge of divers articles4 ,every nation has certain names1 that1 ,i know not why1 are taken in no good sense1 as with us1 ,john1 ,william1 ,benedict4 ,in the genealogy of princes1 also1 there seem to be certain names fatally affected1 as the ,ptolemies of ,egypt1 the ,henries in ,england1 the ,charleses in ,france1 the ,baldwins in ,flanders1 and the ,williams of our ancient ,aquitaine1 from whence1 'tis said1 the name of ,guyenne has its derivation2 which would seem far fetched were there not as crude derivations in ,plato himself4 ,item1 'tis a frivolous thing in itself1 but nevertheless worthy to be recorded for the strangeness of it1 that is written by an eyewitness1 that ,henry1 ,duke of ,normandy1 son of ,henry ,,ii41 king of ,england1 making a great feast in ,france1 the concourse of nobility and gentry was so great1 that being1 for sport's sake1 divided into troops1 according to their names1 in the first troop1 which consisted of ,williams1 there were found an hundred and ten knights sitting at the table of that name1 without reckoning the ordinary gentlemen and servants4 ,it is as pleasant to distinguish the tables by the names of the guests as it was in the ,emperor ,geta to distinguish the several courses of his meat by the first letters of the meats themselves2 so that those that began with ,b were served up together1 as brawn1 beef1 bream1 bustards1 becca-ficos2 and so of the others4 ,item1 there is a saying that it is a good thing to have a good name1 that is to say1 credit and a good repute2 but besides this1 it is really convenient to have a well-sounding name1 such as is easy of pronunciation and easy to be remembered1 by reason that kings and other great persons do by that means the more easily know and the more hardly forget us2 and indeed of our own servants we more frequently call and employ those whose names are most ready upon the tongue4 ,i myself have seen ,henry ,,ii41 when he could not for his heart hit of a gentleman's name of our country of ,gascony1 and moreover was fain to call one of the queen's maids of honour by the general name of her race1 her own family name being so difficult to pronounce or remember2 and ,socrates thinks it worthy a father's care to give fine names to his children4 ,item1'tis said that the foundation of ,notre ,dame la ,grande at ,poitiers took its original from hence that a debauched young fellow formerly living in that place1 having got to him a wench1 and1 at her first coming in1 asking her name1 and being answered that it was ,mary1 he felt himself so suddenly pierced through with the awe of religion and the reverence to that sacred name of the ,blessed ,virgin1 that he not only immediately sent the girl away1 but became a reformed man and so continued the remainder of his life2 and that1 in consideration of this miracle1 there was erected upon the place where this young man's house stood1 first a chapel dedicated to our ,lady and afterwards the church that we now see standing there4 ,this vocal and auricular reproof wrought upon the conscience1 and that right into the soul2 this that follows1 insinuated itself merely by the senses4 ,pythagoras being in company with some wild young fellows1 and perceiving that1 heated with the feast1 they comploted to go violate an honest house1 commanded the singing wench to alter her wanton airs2 and by a solemn1 grave1 and spondaic music1 gently enchanted and laid asleep their ardour4 ,item1 will not posterity say that our modern reformation has been wonderfully delicate and exact1 in having not only combated errors and vices1 and filled the world with devotion1 humility1 obedience1 peace1 and all sorts of virtue2 but in having proceeded so far as to quarrel with our ancient baptismal names of ,charles1 ,louis1 ,francis1 to fill the world with ,methuselahs1 ,ezekiels1 and ,malachis1 names of a more spiritual sound8 ,a gentleman1 a neighbour of mine1 a great admirer of antiquity1 and who was always extolling the excellences of former times in comparison with this present age of ours1 did not1 amongst the rest1 forget to dwell upon the lofty and magnificent sound of the gentleman's names of those days1 ,don ,grumedan1 ,quedregan1 ,agesilan1 which1 but to hear named he conceived to denote other kind of men than ,pierre1 ,guillot1 and ,michel4 ,item1 ,i am mightily pleased with ,jacques ,amyot for leaving1 throughout a whole ,french oration1 the ,latin names entire1 without varying and garbling them to give them a ,french cadence4 ,it seemed a little harsh and rough at first2 but already custom1 by the authority of his ,plutarch1 has overcome that novelty4 ,i have often wished that such as write histories in ,latin would leave our names as they find them and as they are2 for in making ,vaudemont into ,vallemontanus1 and metamorphosing names to make them suit better with the ,greek or ,latin1 we know not where we are1 and with the persons of the men lose the benefit of the story4 ,to conclude1 'tis a scurvy custom and of very ill consequence that we have in our kingdom of ,france to call every one by the name of his manor or seigneury2 'tis the thing in the world that the most prejudices and confounds families and descents4 ,a younger brother of a good family1 having a manor left him by his father1 by the name of which he has been known and honoured1 cannot handsomely leave it2 ten years after his decease it falls into the hand of a stranger1 who does the same3 do but judge whereabouts we shall be concerning the knowledge of these men4 ,we need look no further for examples than our own royal family1 where every partition creates a new surname1 whilst1 in the meantime1 the original of the family is totally lost4 ,there is so great liberty taken in these mutations1 that ,i have not in my time seen any one advanced by fortune to any extraordinary condition who has not presently had genealogical titles added to him1 new and unknown to his father1 and who has not been inoculated into some illustrious stem by good luck2 and the obscurest families are the most apt for falsification4 ,how many gentlemen have we in ,france who by their own account are of royal extraction8 more1 ,i think1 than who will confess they are not4 ,was it not a pleasant passage of a friend of mine8 ,there were1 several gentlemen assembled together about the dispute of one seigneur with another2 which other had1 in truth1 some preeminence of titles and alliances above the ordinary gentry4 ,upon the debate of this prerogative1 every one1 to make himself equal to him1 alleged1 this one extraction1 that another2 this1 the near resemblance of name1 that1 of arms2 another1 an old worm-eaten patent2 the very least of them was great-grandchild to some foreign king4 ,when they came to sit down1 to dinner1 my friend1 instead of taking his place amongst them1 retiring with most profound conges1 entreated the company to excuse him for having hitherto lived with them at the saucy rate of a companion2 but being now better informed of their quality1 he would begin to pay them the respect due to their birth and grandeur1 and that it would ill become him to sit down among so many princes--ending this farce with a thousand reproaches3 ,let us1 in ,god's name1 satisfy ourselves with what our fathers were contented with1 with what we are4 ,we are great enough1 if we rightly understand how to maintain it4 ,let us not disown the fortune and condition of our ancestors1 and let us lay aside these ridiculous pretences1 that can never be wanting to any one that has the impudence to allege them4 ,arms have no more security than surnames4 ,i bear azure powdered with trefoils or1 with a lion's paw of the same armed gules in fesse4 ,what privilege has this to continue particularly in my house8 ,a son-in-law will transport it into another family1 or some paltry purchaser will make them his first arms4 ,there is nothing wherein there is more change and confusion4 ,but this consideration leads me1 perforce1 into another subject4 ,let us pry a little narrowly into1 and1 in ,god's name1 examine upon what foundation we erect this glory and reputation for which the world is turned topsy-turvy3 wherein do we place this renown that we hunt after with so much pains8 ,it is1 in the end1 ,peter or ,william that carries it1 takes it into his possession1 and whom it only concerns4 ,o what a valiant faculty is hope1 that in a mortal subject1 and in a moment1 makes nothing of usurping infinity1 immensity1 eternity1 and of supplying its master's indigence1 at its pleasure1 with all things he can imagine or desire6 ,nature has given us this passion for a pretty toy to play withal4 ,and this ,peter or ,william1 what is it but a sound1 when all is done8 or three or four dashes with a pen1 so easy to be varied that ,i would fain know to whom is to be attributed the glory of so many victories1 to ,guesquin1 to ,glesquin1 or to ,gueaquin8 and yet there would be something of greater moment in the case than in ,lucian1 that ,sigma should serve ,tau with a process2 for ,non levia aut ludicra petuntur ,praemia2 ,they aim at no slight or jocular rewards4--,a,eneid1 xii4 #gfd4 the chase is there in very good earnest3 the question is1 which of these letters is to be rewarded for so many sieges1 battles1 wounds1 imprisonments1 and services done to the crown of ,france by this famous constable8 ,nicholas ,denisot--,painter and poet1 born at ,le ,mans1#aeae4-- never concerned himself further than the letters of his name1 of which he has altered the whole contexture to build up by anagram the ,count d',alsinois1 whom he has handsomely endowed with the glory of his poetry and painting4 ,the historian ,suetonius was satisfied with only the meaning of his name1 which made him cashier his father's surname1 ,lenis1 to leave ,tranquillus successor to the reputation of his writings4 ,who would believe that ,captain ,bayard should have no honour but what he derives from the deeds of ,peter ,terrail2 and that ,antonio ,iscalin should suffer himself to his face to be robbed of the honour of so many navigations and commands at sea and land by ,captain ,paulin and the ,baron de la ,garde8 ,secondly1 these are dashes of the pen common to a thousand people4 ,how many are there1 in every family1 of the same name and surname8 and how many more in several families1 ages1 and countries8 ,history tells us of three of the name of ,socrates1 of five ,platos1 of eight ,aristotles1 of seven ,xenophons1 of twenty ,demetrii1 and of twenty ,theodores2 and how many more she was not acquainted with we may imagine4 ,who hinders my groom from calling himself ,pompey the ,great8 ,but after all1 what virtue1 what authority1 or what secret springs are there that fix upon my deceased groom1 or the other ,pompey1 who had his head cut off in ,egypt1 this glorious renown1 and these so much honoured flourishes of the pen1 so as to be of any advantage to them8 ,id cinerem et manes credis curare sepultos8 ,do you believe the dead regard such things8--,a,eneid1 iv4 #cd4 ,what sense have the two companions in greatest esteem amongst me1 ,epaminondas1 of this fine verse that has been so many ages current in his praise1 ,consiliis nostris laus est attrita ,laconum2 ,the glory of the ,spartans is extinguished by my plans4 --,cicero1 ,tusc4 ,quaes41 v4 #ag4 or ,africanus1 of this other1 ,a sole exoriente supra ,maeotis ,paludes ,nemo est qui factis me aequiparare queat4 ,from where the sun rises over the ,palus ,maeotis1 to where it sets1 there is no one whose acts can compare with mine--,idem1 ibid4 ,survivors indeed tickle themselves with these fine phrases1 and by them incited to jealousy and desire1 inconsiderately and according to their own fancy1 attribute to the dead this their own feeling1 vainly flattering themselves that they shall one day in turn be capable of the same character4 ,however3 ,ad haec se ,romanus ,graiusque1 et ,barbaras induperator ,erexit2 caucus discriminis atque laboris ,inde habuit3 tanto major famae sitis est1 quam ,virtutis4 ,for these the ,roman1 the ,greek1 and the ,barbarian commander hath aroused himself2 he has incurred thence causes of danger and toil3 so much greater is the thirst for fame than for virtue4 --,juvenal1 x4 #acg4 ,,chapter ,,xlvii ,,of ,,the ,,uncertainty ,,of ,,our ,,judgment ,well says this verse3 ,there is everywhere much liberty of speech4--,iliad1 xx4 #bdi4 ,for example3 ,hannibal conquered1 but knew not how to make the best use of his victorious venture4--,petrarch1 ,son41 #hc4 ,such as would improve this argument1 and condemn the oversight of our leaders in not pushing home the victory at ,moncontour1 or accuse the ,king of ,spain of not knowing how to make the best use of the advantage he had against us at ,st4 ,quentin1 may conclude these oversights to proceed from a soul already drunk with success1 or from a spirit which1 being full and overgorged with this beginning of good fortune1 had lost the appetite of adding to it1 already having enough to do to digest what it had taken in3 he has his arms full1 and can embrace no more3 unworthy of the benefit fortune has conferred upon him and the advantage she had put into his hands3 for what utility does he reap from it1 if1 notwithstanding1 he give his enemy respite to rally and make head against him8 ,what hope is there that he will dare at another time to attack an enemy reunited and recomposed1 and armed anew with anger and revenge1 who did not dare to pursue them when routed and unmanned by fear8 ,dum fortuna calet1 dum conficit omnia terror4 ,whilst fortune is fresh1 and terror finishes all4 --,lucan1 vii4 #gcd4 ,but withal1 what better opportunity can he expect than that he has lost8 ',tis not here1 as in fencing1 where the most hits gain the prize2 for so long as the enemy is on foot1 the game is new to begin1 and that is not to be called a victory that puts not an end to the war4 ,in the encounter where ,caesar had the worst1 near the city of ,oricum1 he reproached ,pompey's soldiers that he had been lost had their general known how to overcome2 and afterwards clawed him in a very different fashion when it came to his turn4 ,but why may not a man also argue1 on the contrary1 that it is the effect of a precipitous and insatiate spirit not to know how to bound and restrain its coveting2 that it is to abuse the favours of ,god to exceed the measure ,he has prescribed them3 and that again to throw a man's self into danger after a victory obtained is again to expose himself to the mercy of fortune3 that it is one of the greatest discretions in the rule of war not to drive an enemy to despair8 ,sylla and ,marius in the social war1 having defeated the ,marsians1 seeing yet a body of reserve that1 prompted by despair1 was coming on like enraged brutes to dash in upon them1 thought it not convenient to stand their charge4 ,had not ,monsieur de ,foix's ardour transported him so furiously to pursue the remains of the victory of ,ravenna1 he had not obscured it by his own death4 ,and yet the recent memory of his example served to preserve ,monsieur d',anguien from the same misfortune at the battle of ,serisoles4 ',tis dangerous to attack a man you have deprived of all means to escape but by his arms1 for necessity teaches violent resolutions3 ,gravissimi sunt morsus irritatae necessitatis4 ,irritated necessity bites deepest4--,portius ,latro41 ,declam4 ,vincitur haud gratis1 jugulo qui provocat hostem4 ,he is not readily beaten who provokes the enemy by shewing his throat4--or3 ,he who presents himself to his foe1 sells his life dear4--,lucan1 iv4 #bge4 ,this was it that made ,pharax withhold the ,king of ,lacedaemon1 who had won a battle against the ,mantineans1 from going to charge a thousand ,argians1 who had escaped in an entire body from the defeat1 but rather let them steal off at liberty that he might not encounter valour whetted and enraged by mischance4 ,clodomir1 king of ,aquitaine1 after his victory pursuing ,gondemar1 king of ,burgundy1 beaten and making off as fast as he could for safety1 compelled him to face about and make head1 wherein his obstinacy deprived him of the fruit of his conquest1 for he there lost his life4 ,in like manner1 if a man were to choose whether he would have his soldiers richly and sumptuously accoutred or armed only for the necessity of the matter in hand1 this argument would step in to favour the first1 of which opinion was ,sertorius1 ,philopcemen1 ,brutus1 ,caesar1 and others1 that it is to a soldier an enflaming of courage and a spur himself in brave attire2 and withal a motive to be more obstinate in fight1 having his arms1 which are in a manner his estate and whole inheritance to defend2 which is the reason1 says ,xenophon1 why those of ,asia carried their wives and concubines1 with their choicest jewels and greatest wealth1 along with them to the wars4 ,but then these arguments would be as ready to stand up for the other side2 that a general ought rather to lessen in his men their solicitude of preserving themselves than to increase it2 that by such means they will be in a double fear of hazarding their persons1 as it will be a double temptation to the enemy to fight with greater resolution where so great booty and so rich spoils are to be obtained2 and this very thing has been observed in former times1 notably to encourage the ,romans against the ,samnites4 ,antiochus1 shewing ,hannibal the army he had raised1 wonderfully splendid and rich in all sorts of equipage1 asked him if the ,romans would be satisfied with that army8 ,satisfied1 replied the other1 yes1 doubtless1 were their avarice never so great4 ,lycurgus not only forbad his soldiers all manner of bravery in their equipage1 but1 moreover1 to strip their conquered enemies1 because he would1 as he said1 that poverty and frugality should shine with the rest of the battle4 ,at sieges and elsewhere1 where occasion draws us near to the enemy1 we willingly suffer our men to brave1 rate1 and affront him with all sorts of injurious language2 and not without some colour of reason3 for it is of no little consequence to take from them all hopes of mercy and composition1 by representing to them that there is no fair quarter to be expected from an enemy they have incensed to that degree1 nor other remedy remaining but in victory4 ,and yet ,vitellius found himself deceived in this way of proceeding2 for having to do with ,otho1 weaker in the valour of his soldiers1 long unaccustomed to war and effeminated with the delights of the city1 he so nettled them at last with injurious language1 reproaching them with cowardice and regret for the mistresses and entertainments they had left behind at ,rome1 that by this means he inspired them with such resolution as no exhortation had had the power to have done1 and himself made them fall upon him1 with whom their own captains before could by no means prevail4 ,and1 indeed1 when they are injuries that touch to the quick1 it may very well fall out that he who went but unwillingly to work in the behalf of his prince will fall to't with another sort of mettle when the quarrel is his own4 ,considering of how great importance is the preservation of the general of an army1 and that the universal aim of an enemy is levelled directly at the head1 upon which all the others depend1 the course seems to admit of no dispute1 which we know has been taken by so many great captains1 of changing their habit and disguising their persons upon the point of going to engage4 ,nevertheless1 the inconvenience a man by so doing runs into is not less than that he thinks to avoid2 for the captain1 by this means being concealed from the knowledge of his own men1 the courage they should derive from his presence and example happens by degrees to cool and to decay2 and not seeing the wonted marks and ensigns of their leader1 they presently conclude him either dead1 or that1 despairing of the business1 he is gone to shift for himself4 ,and experience shows us that both these ways have been successful and otherwise4 ,what befell ,pyrrhus in the battle he fought against the ,consul ,levinus in ,italy will serve us to both purposes2 for though by shrouding his person under the armour of ,megacles and making him wear his own1 he undoubtedly preserved his own life1 yet1 by that very means1 he was withal very near running into the other mischief of losing the battle4 ,alexander1 ,caesar1 and ,lucullus loved to make themselves known in a battle by rich accoutrements and armour of a particular lustre and colour3 ,agis1 ,agesilaus1 and that great ,gilippus1 on the contrary1 used to fight obscurely armed1 and without any imperial attendance or distinction4 ,amongst other oversights ,pompey is charged withal at the battle of ,pharsalia1 he is condemned for making his army stand still to receive the enemy's charge2 by reason that 7,i shall here steal ,plutarch's own words1 which are better than mine7 he by so doing deprived himself of the violent impression the motion of running adds to the first shock of arms1 and hindered that clashing of the combatants against one another which is wont to give them greater impetuosity and fury2 especially when they come to rush in with their utmost vigour1 their courages increasing by the shouts and the career2 'tis to render the soldiers' ardour1 as a man may say1 more reserved and cold4 ,this is what he says4 ,but if ,caesar had come by the worse1 why might it not as well have been urged by another1 that1 on the contrary1 the strongest and most steady posture of fighting is that wherein a man stands planted firm without motion2 and that they who are steady upon the march1 closing up1 and reserving their force within themselves for the push of the business1 have a great advantage against those who are disordered1 and who have already spent half their breath in running on precipitately to the charge8 ,besides that an army is a body made up of so many individual members1 it is impossible for it to move in this fury with so exact a motion as not to break the order of battle1 and that the best of them are not engaged before their fellows can come on to help them4 ,in that unnatural battle betwixt the two ,persian brothers1 the ,lacedaemonian ,clearchus1 who commanded the ,greeks of ,cyrus' party1 led them on softly and without precipitation to the charge2 but1 coming within fifty paces1 hurried them on full speed1 hoping in so short a career both to keep their order and to husband their breath1 and at the same time to give the advantage of impetuosity and impression both to their persons and their missile arms4 ,others have regulated this question as to their armies thus if your enemy come full drive upon you1 stand firm to receive him2 if he stand to receive you1 run full drive upon him4 ,in the expedition of the ,emperor ,charles ,v4 into ,provence1 ,king ,francis was put to choose either to go meet him in ,italy or to await him in his own dominions2 wherein1 though he very well considered of how great advantage it was to preserve his own territory entire and clear from the troubles of war1 to the end that1 being unexhausted of its stores1 it might continually supply men and money at need2 that the necessity of war requires at every turn to spoil and lay waste the country before us1 which cannot very well be done upon one's own2 to which may be added1 that the country people do not so easily digest such a havoc by those of their own party as from an enemy1 so that seditions and commotions might by such means be kindled amongst us2 that the licence of pillage and plunder 7which are not to be tolerated at home7 is a great ease and refreshment against the fatigues and sufferings of war2 and that he who has no other prospect of gain than his bare pay will hardly be kept from running home1 being but two steps from his wife and his own house2 that he who lays the cloth is ever at the charge of the feast2 that there is more alacrity in assaulting than defending2 and that the shock of a battle's loss in our own bowels is so violent as to endanger the disjointing of the whole body1 there being no passion so contagious as that of fear1 that is so easily believed1 or that so suddenly diffuses itself2 and that the cities that should hear the rattle of this tempest at their gates1 that should take in their captains and soldiers yet trembling and out of breath1 would be in danger in this heat and hurry to precipitate themselves upon some untoward resolution3 notwithstanding all this1 so it was that he chose to recall the forces he had beyond the mountains and to suffer the enemy to come to him4 ,for he might1 on the other hand1 imagine that1 being at home and amongst his friends1 he could not fail of plenty of all manner of conveniences2 the rivers and passes he had at his devotion would bring him in both provisions and money in all security1 and without the trouble of convoy2 that he should find his subjects by so much the more affectionate to him1 by how much their danger was more near and pressing2 that having so many cities and barriers to secure him1 it would be in his power to give the law of battle at his own opportunity and advantage2 and that1 if it pleased him to delay the time1 under cover and at his ease he might see his enemy founder and defeat himself with the difficulties he was certain to encounter1 being engaged in a hostile country1 where before1 behind1 and on every side war would be made upon him2 no means to refresh himself or to enlarge his quarters1 should diseases infest them1 or to lodge his wounded men in safety2 no money1 no victuals1 but at the point of the lance2 no leisure to repose and take breath2 no knowledge of the ways or country to secure him from ambushes and surprises2 and in case of losing a battle1 no possible means of saving the remains4 ,neither is there want of example in both these cases4 ,scipio thought it much better to go and attack his enemy's territories in ,africa than to stay at home to defend his own and to fight him in ,italy1 and it succeeded well with him4 ,but1 on the contrary1 ,hannibal in the same war ruined himself by abandoning the conquest of a foreign country to go and defend his own4 ,the ,athenians having left the enemy in their own dominions to go over into ,sicily1 were not favoured by fortune in their design2 but ,agathocles1 king of ,syracuse1 found her favourable to him when he went over into ,africa and left the war at home4 ,by which examples we are wont to conclude1 and with some reason1 that events1 especially in war1 for the most part depend upon fortune1 who will not be governed by nor submit unto human reasons and prudence1 according to the poet3 ,et male consultis pretium est3 prudentia fallit ,nec fortune probat causas1 sequiturque merentes1 ,sed vaga per cunctos nullo discrimine fertur4 ,scilicet est aliud1 quod nos cogatque regatque ,majus1 et in proprias ducat mortalia leges4 ,and there is value in ill counsel3 prudence deceives3 nor does fortune inquire into causes1 nor aid the most deserving1 but turns hither and thither without discrimination4 ,indeed there is a greater power which directs and rules us1 and brings mortal affairs under its own laws4--,manilius1 iv4 #ie4 ,but1 to take the thing right1 it should seem that our counsels and deliberations depend as much upon fortune as anything else we do1 and that she engages also our arguments in her uncertainty and confusion4 ,we argue rashly and adventurously1 says ,timaeus in ,plato1 by reason that1 as well as ourselves1 our discourses have great participation in the temerity of chance4 ,,etext ,,editor',s ,,bookmarks3 ,art thou not ashamed1 said he to him1 to sing so well8 ,as great a benefit to be without 7children7 ,away with that eloquence that enchants us with itself ,because the people know so well how to obey ,blemishes of the great naturally appear greater ,change is to be feared ,cicero3 on fame ,confidence in another man's virtue ,dangerous man you have deprived of all means to escape ,depend as much upon fortune as anything else we do ,fame3 an echo1 a dream1 nay1 the shadow of a dream ,far more easy and pleasant to follow than to lead ,he who lays the cloth is ever at the charge of the feast ,i honour those most to whom ,i show the least honour ,in war not to drive an enemy to despair ,my words does but injure the love ,i have conceived within4 ,neither the courage to die nor the heart to live ,never spoke of my money1 but falsely1 as others do ,no great choice betwixt not knowing to speak anything but ill ,no man continues ill long but by his own fault ,no necessity upon a man to live in necessity ,no passion so contagious as that of fear ,not a victory that puts not an end to the war ,not want1 but rather abundance1 that creates avarice ,only secure harbour from the storms and tempests of life ,opinions they have of things and not by the things themselves ,people conceiving they have right and title to be judges ,pyrrho's hog ,repute for value in them1 not what they bring to us ,satisfaction of mind to have only one path to walk in ,that which cowardice itself has chosen for its refuge ,the honour we receive from those that fear us is not honour ,the pedestal is no part of the statue ,there is more trouble in keeping money than in getting it4 ,there is nothing ,i hate so much as driving a bargain ,thou wilt not feel it long if thou feelest it too much ,tis the sharpnss of our mind that gives the edge to our pains ,titles being so dearly bought ,twenty people prating about him when he is at stool ,valour whetted and enraged by mischance ,what can they not do2 what do they fear to do 7for beauty7